


A Different Kind of Charming

by Bk_Betty



Series: The Adventures of Jax and Issa [1]
Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Sons of Anarchy, F/M, not tara friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:35:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25754443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bk_Betty/pseuds/Bk_Betty
Summary: How much different would Jax Teller's life have been if JT never died? If the loss of Thomas brought JT and Gemma closer together instead of tearing them apart? If Clay died way before he could corrupt SAMCRO? If SAMCRO successfully went legit under JT and Gemma's leadership? If he fell in love with Tig Trager's daughter? Follow along as Jax and Isabelle "Issa" Trager navigate family, a very different SAMCRO, love and the obstacles of a former girlfriend back in Charming to cause trouble
Relationships: Chibs Telford/Lyla Winston, Donna Winston/Opie Winston, Gemma Teller Morrow/John Teller, Jax Teller/Original Character(s), Jax Teller/Original Female Character(s), Past Jax Teller/Tara Knowles, Tig Trager/Venus Van Dam
Series: The Adventures of Jax and Issa [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884274
Comments: 25
Kudos: 71





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very canon-divergent look at the Sons of Anarchy universe. It's a Jax/OC love story and is not Tara friendly (but she’s not straight up evil - just selfish and a touch narcissistic). I've always had a lot of "what-if" questions roaming in my head about Sons of Anarchy and as a huge Hamlet fan, I like the idea of playing with circumstances and exploring different outcomes.
> 
> I will not be following the show's timeline and some characters may seem a bit OOC but I am trying to stay faithful to their personalities. Just putting a different spin on them given the fact that their circumstances are way different from the show.
> 
> The story does, however, start around the same time as season one. Jax has just turned 30 and Issa is 29.  
> The point of view will alternate and except for the prologue, each chapter is named for the person who's point of view we're reading. I have the story fully plotted out so hopefully updates will be weekly!

Issa Trager loves a good prank.

Which explains why she’s balancing on her father’s work bench at this very moment. Opie is reluctantly serving as her lookout while she tucks away a vintage doll behind Tig’s toolbox. She found it at a flea market when her and her business partner Lyla went in search of tables for their new cake tasting room. Issa can admit that even she finds the doll creepy and she chuckles to herself. Because it is going to scare the ever loving shit out of her father.

“He’s coming out of the clubhouse,” Opie hisses at her.

She scrambles down, putting her shoulder length mane of black curls into a high ponytail. Jax always says he can spot her a mile away because she’s the only woman in Charming with such thick, natural waves. It’s also probably because there are only a small number of people that look remotely like her in Charming. 

The town is not particularly known for its racial diversity.

Issa lovingly refers to herself as a California cultural stew - a combination of three cultures rolled into one. Before her mother, Marisa Santiago, succumbed to cancer, she made Tig promise Issa would know all of who she is - Black, Mexican and White. And he stuck by it, having Issa live with his in-laws during the school year, learning about both her Mexican and Black heritage, while immersing her in the life of SAMCRO on her Summer breaks. 

And Issa is better for it. She is grounded, smart as a whip and not afraid to put someone in their place. Or put a doll in Tig Trager’s work space.

Opie, always her not so willing accomplice, moved a car earlier to give Issa a good hiding place to watch her father’s psychological trauma come to life. She is crouched behind it now, waiting for the inevitable scream.

It doesn’t take long.

“Motherfucking assballs son of a bitch!” is followed closely by loud clanging.

“Isabelle Marisol Trager, get your ass in here!” Tig screams.

“Ooohhh he full government named you,” Opie stage whispers to her.

Badly.

Her big lug of a best friend does not have an inside voice.

Issa frantically makes a shushing motion, not wanting Stretch McGee to give away her hiding spot. Unfortunately, her ex-Marine dad has eagle eyes and Opie has no idea what subtly means. Before she knows it, said creepy doll is being hurled at her.

Tig rounds the side of the car, all wild curls and righteous indignation.

“That was NOT funny! How the fuck did you even get here? Shelby’s not in the lot.”

Shelby is Issa’s pride and joy - a fully restored, jet black 1966 Shelby GT350. Tig found it not too long after Marisa died. Grief stricken, he poured his pain into restoring the car Marisa always wanted. When Issa turned 16, he handed over the keys and for her, it was love at first sight.

“Caught a ride with Jax. He’s in JT’s office going over the final schedule for the bike festival.”

The bike festival being the annual Charming-Redwood Original Motorcycle Rally. Everyone else calls it a rally. Issa, because she is an absolute shit, insists on calling it a bike festival.

And right on cue, both Opie and Tig squawk in indignation, “It’s a motorcycle rally not a bike festival!”

Issa waves a dismissive hand in the air. “Semantics. There’s funnel cake at these things. It’s a festival. Get over it.”

Even though she loves to joke about it, the rally is one of her favorite times of year. SAMCRO and the town of Charming work together to put it on every April. It’s a weekend long affair, culminating in a big bash for Jax’s birthday. SAMCRO Custom Choppers is the leading custom bike shop on the west coast and the rally is their biggest marketing event.

Or as close to a marketing event as a bunch of ex-outlaw bikers will ever get.

As the shop’s managing director, a lot of the logistics fall on Jax Teller’s shoulders. John Teller helps when needed but once Jax took over that arm of the SAMCRO business, his father happily stepped away from all rally duties.

“You’re a goddamn menace,” Tig points at his only daughter. “I could have had a heart attack and dropped dead because of that demon spawn!”

Tig is gesturing wildly at the vacant eyed (and quite honestly terrifying) doll now laying at Issa’s feet. Which only makes her laugh harder.

“Payback for sending that batshit insane woman to my bakery last week. She is STILL trying to get me to cancel someone else’s wedding cake order so I can make hers.”

Said customer had come into Teller-Winston Motors for a tune up and gone on to drive Tig, Opie and even Donna to contemplate how hard it would be to get blood stains out of the parking lot.

“Even if we weren’t booked solid that weekend, I am _not_ making a giant replica of her out of cake.”

“Aww baby. Are you mad you didn’t think about doing the same thing for our wedding?”

Jax comes up behind his wife, trademark smirk in place. He slips his arm around her waist, not even acknowledging his best friend or father-in-law. His eyes automatically travel to the small peak of cleavage visible over Issa’s white tank top.

“Eyes up here, buster,” she teases him, using her fingers to move his face up to meet her eyes.

Jax lets his hand wander down to the top of her ass as he leans in for a kiss.

Issa _loves_ kissing Jax. It’s all consuming - from the way he moves his lips against hers to the feel of his hands as they inevitably move to cup her face. He kisses her with his whole being, lighting her up from the inside and turning her into a puddle of need and aching want. She’s just about ready to push him against the nearest flat surface and ride him like a Brahma bull when her father’s loud cough finally registers in her lust addled brain.

“How about you not maul my daughter right in front of me, asshole.”

Issa feels Jax smile against her lips as he slowly moves away from her. But his hand stays firmly on her ass.

“It’s kind of half your fault she’s so fucking hot,” Jax shrugs, not an ounce of shame in his voice. “Speaking of which, you may wanna wipe down your work bench a bit before you use it.”

Both Tig and Opie scrunch up their noses while Issa lets out a mortified squeak.

Jax, however, looks like the cat that ate the whole damn bowl of cream. Which, in a way, he kind of did. Last night. Right where her father is currently leaning against his work bench.

“I don’t need this…” Tig mutters as he stalks towards the office.

TWM has six locations throughout San Joaquin County. Tig and Opie manage the garages while Opie’s wife Donna handles the business side of things. It was the very first business John and Gemma worked to turn legit after the club lost so many brothers during the war with the Mayans in the early 90s, including John’s close friend Clay Morrow. Not soon after came SAMCRO Custom Choppers, a venture that took off even beyond their wildest expectations.

Now the SAMCRO family includes tattoo parlors up and down the west coast, the high end porn studio Redwoody and Redwood Originals, a line of craft beers and whiskies. Led by the Teller and Winston families, SAMCRO managed to turn itself around, going from outlaws barely surviving to one of the largest employers in Northern California’s Central Valley.

To all the members and their family, the Charming-Redwood Original Motorcycle Rally means more than a weekend of choppers, parties and fun. It’s a reminder of how far they have come and how lucky they all are to still be alive. The importance and meaning of the rally is not lost on Issa. She could have ended up an orphan had the club not turned itself around and removed her father from an almost guaranteed bloody death. But she’s here, surrounded by her family and the man of her dreams. Life, she thinks to herself, can’t get any better.

So of course fate has to prove her wrong and kick her in the teeth.

Hard.


	2. Jax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quiet morning together, truths come to light and the other shoe drops.
> 
> There's a little note at the end of this chapter that gives a bit more insight to what I'm planning with this story. I put it at the end to avoid spoilers but make sure to give it a read. Cheers!

* * *

He feels Issa shifting beside him before he even opens his eyes. 

“And just where do you think you’re going?” he pulls her to his chest, murmuring low and lazy against her neck. She shivers as his hand slides up her bare back. 

“Stop. It’s hot and you were smothering me like some burly koala bear.”

He laughs, open and deep. She always complains he’s going to accidentally burn her to death one day because he’s a living furnace. 

“I am nowhere near hairy enough to be any kind of bear. That’s Ope’s territory.”

He plays with the end of one of Issa’s many curls. If anyone doubts that she’s Tig’s daughter because of her skin color, they only need to take a look at her hair. It’s 100% Trager. 

When they first started dating, he learned quickly he couldn’t just run his hands through her hair. He had never seriously dated a woman of color before her. And even though him and Issa were thick as thieves growing up, she always slapped his hand away when he tried to touch her hair. Often with the admonition, “My hair is not meant for your entertainment, white boy!” 

If she had a ruler, he would have felt like he was in catholic school. But he did learn to respect the boundaries of a Black woman’s hair. Something Issa teases him about to this day. 

“I don’t know. I’ve seen JT shirtless before and I almost mistook him for a yeti. That’s your future, Teller.”

“Oh really,” he drawls, bringing his fingers to her sides. 

He’s pretty sure Issa knows what he’s about to do. “Don’t. You. Dare,” she warns. 

She tries to bring her arms down to protect her sides but he’s too fast for her. Before she can do much of anything, he has her legs trapped between his and her arms behind her back. He shows no mercy, tickling her from both angles. 

“Jax, no! Stop, stop!” she’s bubbling over with laughter, words getting lost in it. Her head is thrown back and her face is practically glowing. 

God he’s gone on this woman. 

He finally relents when she starts digging her toes into his calves. But their position allows him to roll them until she’s on her back and he’s hovering over her. He settles between her thighs, using his forearms to balance his weight. He watches as her breathing settles back to normal.

“Hi,” he whispers, long blonde hair shielding them from the outside world. 

Issa smiles wide, fingertips brushing against the side of his face. “Hi.”

Jax loves mornings like this. There isn’t a rush to get somewhere. They can slow down, lose themselves in each other without keeping a careful eye on the clock. 

He studies her. The face he has loved from the very moment he understood what being in love meant. He lived for summers when they were growing up because it meant time with Issa. Now they have all the time in the world. 

He leans in for a kiss, not caring a damn about morning breath. He is sucked into her almost immediately, savoring the slide of their tongues against each other. His left hand moves to her right cheek as his other one starts roaming south. He moves his lips to her neck, placing feather light kisses up and down, making his way to her collarbone. She squirms underneath him, her breath becoming short and shallow. He knows all her spots, has studied them religiously over the eight years they’ve been together. A map of her body is permanently etched into his brain and he uses it to his advantage every chance he gets. 

She fell asleep naked against his chest last night, so there are no clothes in his way. His thumb brushes the side of her breast. He carefully eases more of his weight onto her, grinding his dick against her bare heat. He wants to bury himself deep inside her, fuck her until she’s screaming. But he stops himself, hitching one of her legs further up his hip. His lips make their way back to hers and he kisses her deep and dirty. 

He feels her fingernails rake across his Reaper tattoo, hissing at the sensation. His hips have a mind of their own, spurred on by his aching cock. He moves a hand to her side, fingers digging into her soft flesh. She loves a little bit of pain mixed in with her pleasure, loves seeing the evidence of their lovemaking on her body. And he has absolutely no problem branding her as his. 

His cock slips along her slickness. He lets his head fall into the crook of her neck, the warmth of her driving him crazy. She feels amazing, ready to take him inside her. 

“Fuck, baby girl, you’re already soaking wet for me,” his voice is rough with a burning need for her. 

He never calls Issa darlin’. That’s the generic term he uses for all other women and Issa is unlike any other woman he’s ever known. She always tells him she can’t believe he chose her, which to this day confuses the hell out of him. Why would he want anyone else when he can have his Issa? 

Neither one of them are perfect. They’re both stubborn, headstrong and can fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. Issa will cuss him out in Spanish when she’s pissed. She also has a slightly worrying fascination with knives. Which really isn’t all that surprising considering she’s Happy Lowman’s goddaughter.

Whenever they argue, Jax has a tendency to give her the cold shoulder until he’s calmed down. He’s also a bit of a flirt but that’s just the Teller in him. He has never and would never cheat on Issa but he knows it makes her uncomfortable at times. He’s trying to be better about it though. Especially because he knows he’d straight up murder any guy she flirted with in front of him. He’s self aware enough to know the hypocrisy of it all and he’s working on it.

But they love each other fiercely and their jagged edges somehow fit together. They aren’t perfect but they’re perfect for each other. 

Issa keens as his fingers dip down to trace her wet folds. He lets one of his rings brush against her clit. The cool metal makes her arch even further off the bed. He lowers his mouth to her right nipple, flicking his tongue in the same motion he’s using on her pussy. He’s teasing her. Getting her closer and closer but stopping before she gets anywhere near the edge. He has no intentions of rushing. No matter how pretty his baby girl begs. 

“God Jax, do something,” she pleads. Her eyes are squeezed shut as her hand holds onto his bicep for dear life. 

Jax twists his finger, burying it a little deeper inside of her. It’s still not enough and he knows it. 

“I am doing something,” he taunts her. 

She whines, circling her hips to try to get him even further inside. Her juices are dripping down his hand and he’s hardly done a thing. He fucking loves how responsive her body is to his touch. No matter how many times they do this dance (and they do it… a _lot_ ), she is always unashamed and abandoned in the heat of their pleasure. 

His own need for her is starting to edge his fingers on faster. She tugs at his arm, trying to get him to go deeper. The first time they had sex with his rings still on, they discovered she had a bit of a ring kink. She tried to claim otherwise later but he knows her like the back of his hand. 

“Stop teasing and fuck me,” Issa cries out. She’s trying to maneuver underneath him and he is not having it. He stops moving, looking down at her with _that_ look. She bites her lip, trying to hide that damn smirk of her own. 

“Who’s in charge in here?” he asks, the right amount of steel seeping into his tone. 

That’s another thing they discovered after a lot of fucking. Issa loves being dominated in the bedroom. The first time he used a slightly harsher voice with her, she came so hard she blacked out. After some trial and error, he learned all her weaknesses - the right amount of pull on her hair, his hands wrapped just so around her neck and the command in his voice. If he wants to get her off fast, any combination of those things will do it. 

“You are, Papi.” 

He groans, gathering her hands above her head. She knows what calling him Papi does to him. He’s too fucking horny at this point to call her out on it though. Without any warning, he shifts and plunges into her. They both let out sighs of relief. This is where he’d happily die a thousand deaths. 

He moves against her, controlled but powerful. She pushes up to match his thrusts, eyes rolling back. She comes hard, her orgasm taking them both by surprise. It spurs Jax on, pushing him to get even closer to his love. 

“You come so pretty for me, baby girl. Think you can do it again?”

She can only nod, caught up in what he’s doing to her. He moves a hand down to where they are joined together. He circles his thumb against her already sensitive clit. He needs her to come again before he can let go. And god does he need to. She is driving him to the fucking brink. 

It only takes a few more thrusts before she’s thrown into the abyss. He is all too happy to follow after her. He grabs the nape of her neck, bringing their foreheads together as he releases into her. Always careful not to tangle his rings in her curls. 

They’re both sweaty messes. When he catches his breath some, he leans up so he can look at his wife. She has that blissed out look on her face and he flashes her a smug grin. He did that to her, he thinks. He always feels like he’s won a goddamn Nobel prize when he puts that look on her face. 

For a few moments, the only sound in their room is heavy breathing. He slips out of her, reaching for the wipes they keep on his side of the bed. He makes quick work of cleaning her up before gathering her back into his arms. He kisses the side of her head as his fingers trace circles on her arm.

“Maybe that one took,” she jokes.

He stills for only a second but she senses it. The tension that grips him every time she brings up having a baby. 

It’s not that he doesn’t want to have a baby with her. They’ve been married for five years and he knows Issa would be an amazing mother. It’s him that he’s worried about. Or at least his genes. 

Jax was twelve when his brother Thomas died from the family flaw. He had to watch his normally active, annoying younger sibling wither away in a hospital bed and that still haunts him. The time after Thomas passed was devastating for the Teller family. On top of grieving for his brother, Jax was worried the pain would break his parents’ marriage. But unlike a lot of couples, Thomas’s death brought John and Gemma closer together. They clung to each other and to Jax, more determined than ever to be a family. 

Even though they made it through to the other side, Thomas’s death is a lingering fear for him. He isn’t sure he’s as strong as his parents, not sure he could handle losing their child. So he’s always pushed off starting a family, saying they have time for it later. Unfortunately, later has snuck up on him and Issa is getting antsy. 

She sighs, rolling out of his grasp. She sits up, searching the floor for one of his SAMCRO shirts. She pulls it over her head and leans forward, elbows on her knees. Jax runs his hands across his face, dreading where this is going. 

“If you don’t want to go see Dr. Namid today, we can reschedule.” 

Her voice is uncertain and small and he hates that. For all Issa’s confidence, he knows there is a small part of her that doubts. They’ve worked on her anxiety before and usually she’s fine. But there has always been one specific sore spot, a tiny seed of “maybe he doesn’t”. And it’s named Tara Knowles.

Jax started dating Tara when he was 15, trying to ignore his ever growing feelings for his best friend. Issa was only in Charming for a few months out of the year and Jax needed more. So he settled and began a relationship with Tara. But he was never fully invested. He knew Tara never had the power to hurt him, not like Issa. Even before he finally admitted his feelings for Issa to himself, he knew losing her in any way would ruin him. 

On the flip side, being with Tara was low risk. She was smart and fun, always up for a good fuck. Teenage Jax was getting his fill of pussy and for the time being, it was enough. The first summer Issa came back and discovered Jax had a girlfriend, she tried hard to hide the hurt. It didn’t help that Tara and her did not get along. He always suspected Tara knew his heart wasn’t with her even if he did put up a good front. Unfortunately, he must have been too good of an actor because Issa has always seen Tara as his big first love. He’s told her time and again he loved her far before he ever met Tara. But he can understand why she may have a whisper of a doubt in her head. And him being cagey about having a baby is probably feeding it. 

He’s tried to find the words to tell her his fears. He wants her to know it’s not about her or his love for her. But it’s a sensitive subject and it’s the one time he’s never known what to say to Issa. He’s a fucking coward and it’s hurting the one person he never wants to cause any pain. 

He reaches across the bed, hand settling on the small of her back. 

“I wanna go, Issa. I’m not trying to back out of this.”

He watches as she twists her fingers in her lap, eyes suddenly finding the floor fascinating. 

“Is…,” she starts, clears her throat and continues. “Do you not want this? A baby? With me?”

Jax drops his head down, ashamed that he’s let it get this far. Determined to stop her from spiraling, he scoots across the bed, wrapping himself around her. He kisses her hair, settling his head on her shoulder. 

“I want that more than anything, baby. I can see this beautiful little girl with a head full of your curls, my smile and all of your attitude, Lord help me.”

Issa huffs out a gentle laugh. She leans into his embrace and Jax feels a little of the strain fall from her shoulders. He needs to tell her. Needs to remove any trace of doubt before it puts a wedge between them. 

“I’m not sure I could take it… if my heart could handle it if I passed on my bad genes to that little girl though. I don’t think I’m strong enough to watch someone else I love die like that.”

He stumbles around the words. They’re awkward in his mouth but he manages to get them out. He feels her body shift almost immediately from rigid uncertainty to his loving Issa. She turns, framing his face with her hands. 

“Is that why you wanted me to make an appointment with Dr. Namid?” 

He can only nod, the memories of Thomas swirling around his mind. She pulls him into her arms. He grasps for her, the comfort and weight of her in his arms settling something deep in his chest. He buries his face in her hair, inhaling the faint scent of coconut and shea butter. It’s a smell that always calms him down. 

“You could have told me. I know how hard it is to lose someone. I may have only been four but I remember enough. I understand that pain, that fear.”

“I feel like a coward. My mom and dad made it through. Why does just the thought of losing our child make me so afraid?”

Issa scraps her nails softly against his scalp, something she knows he loves. She lets the question settle between them for a moment before saying anything. 

“Because you’re human, baby,” she kisses his cheek. “Gem and JT aren’t the norm. The death of a child usually drives a couple apart. I’m still in awe of how they managed to pull through.”

Jax has always looked up to his parents and their relationship. Gemma can be a fire breathing dragon but John softens her edges. On the flip side, John had a bit of a wandering dick before Gemma put her foot down and told him to man the fuck up. And to this day, they are still crazy for each other. 

“But if they can do it, that gives me hope for us,” Issa continues, breaking his train of thought. “Plus medicine has come a long way since Tommy’s death. Not to mention your ticker seems just fine.”

She pokes at his chest to emphasize her point. He grabs her hand, bringing her fingers to his lips. His hand snakes up to her cheek, thumb brushing across it. He makes sure to look Issa dead in the eyes before he speaks.

“Don’t think for one second I don’t want a family with you. It’s the only thing missing from my life - our baby.”

She nods and he hopes she sees the truth in his face. He kisses her, more for affirmation than to try to get her on her back again. Not that he’d object to that but they do have an appointment in two hours. 

“Let’s get going. See what the doc has to say. I think that will help,” he tells her as he gets up and drags her with him. He slaps her ass as they make their way to the bathroom. 

The tension between them melts away after their talk. They shuffle through their morning routine, Jax shamelessly copping a feel whenever he can. By the time they’re settled into Shelby and heading to the hospital, Jax feels lighter. He was an idiot for not having that conversation with Issa before this morning. The thought of anything festering between them physically pains him. Issa is his other half, his soulmate. Losing her is not an option he’s willing to accept. 

He feels even more foolish after their conversation with Dr. Namid. Issa came prepared, a list of questions neatly typed on her phone. They went over the risks, what him and Issa could do during her pregnancy, how they can treat an infant born with a congenital heart defect. If their child is born with CHD, there are more options available to them now and it’s more than likely they will live a long and full life. Dr. Namid is patient with them, going over everything and helping to alleviate their worries. Jax feels a huge weight lifted off his chest by the end of their appointment. Now all he can think about is the fun they’ll have making a baby. 

Maybe there’s an empty supply closet on the way to the parking lot. 

As they leave Dr. Namid’s office, Issa rolls her eyes. “I’m not fucking you in a supply closet, Teller. 

He throws her a lazy grin, slinging his arm over her shoulder. He pulls her to him, whispering in her ear, “Like I can’t talk you into it if I tried.”

He’s too busy looking down Issa’s top to watch where he’s going. As they round a corner, he runs into someone. 

It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion. 

Before he can even apologize to the person, he sees Issa stop dead in her tracks, her eyes wide as if she’s just seen a ghost. He furrows his brows, reaching for his wife. But she stops him, shaking her head and pushing him to look at whoever he ran into. When he does, his heart drops in the worst way possible. 

“Hey Jax,” Tara Knowles says, a flirty smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to allay some fears about Tara being in this story. First and foremost, Jax will in no way even remotely contemplate cheating on Issa with Tara. Unlike canon Jax, this version of Jax was never really in love with Tara and wasn’t upset when she left for college. He harbors no ill will towards her but she is not on his radar. He is all about his marriage and his club. 
> 
> Second, Tara is more a means to an end. I’m using her presence to show that although Issa and Jax love each other very much, they aren’t the best at communicating about the huge things. Like starting a family or Issa’s worry that she was a rebound even after all these years. Also, Issa isn’t one to take shit from anybody. She’s Tig Trager’s daughter through and through. So while she may have doubts about Jax, she is not going to shrink away from Tara and her scheming. 
> 
> Finally, my intention is to make this a series after I finish this main story. I like the SOA verse I’ve created and I see potential for a lot of one shots and maybe even more full on stories.


	3. Jax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Church reveals a very different SAMCRO and Tara doesn’t waste time stirring up trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you missed the end notes from the last chapter, I wanted to allay some fears about Tara being in this story. First and foremost, Jax will in no way even remotely contemplate cheating on Issa with Tara. Unlike canon Jax, this version of Jax was never really in love with Tara and wasn’t upset when she left for college. He harbors no ill will towards her but she is not on his radar. He is all about his marriage and his club. 
> 
> Second, Tara is more a means to an end. I’m using her presence to show that although Issa and Jax love each other very much, they aren’t the best at communicating about the huge things. Like starting a family or Issa’s worry that she was a rebound even after all these years. Also, Issa isn’t one to take shit from anybody. She’s Tig Trager’s daughter through and through. So while she may have doubts about Jax, she is not going to shrink away from Tara and her scheming. 
> 
> Finally, my intention is to make this a series after I finish this main story. I like the SOA verse I’ve created and I see potential for a lot of one shots and maybe even more full on stories. 
> 
> Hope that helps to clear up what my mind is plotting!

* * *

Jax drives into the TWM lot, backing his bike into the VP spot. He takes off his helmet but doesn’t move to get off right away. He runs his hands through his hair, more out of frustration than to tame it. Pulling out a cigarette, he lights it up and takes a slow, long inhale. He leans forward, head tilted down to the ground, before exhaling the smoke in controlled rings. It’s something he does to try and slow his breathing when he’s about ready to explode.

Tara’s return to Charming could not have happened at a worse time. Issa immediately shut down after Jax was able to maneuver them away from the stilted conversation in the hospital hallway. He doesn’t remember much of what was said between the three of them. He just wanted to get Issa as far away from Tara as possible. 

On the way back to their house, Issa barely acknowledged him. He tried bringing up the information they learned from Dr. Namid, tried to pivot back to that feeling of joy they had about finally starting a family. But Issa was having none of it. And Jax learned long ago not to try and force Issa to talk when she wasn’t ready. 

He couldn’t take the silence that followed them home, so he went for a ride before Church. He knows he should have stayed and tried something, _anything_ to get Issa to open up to him. But for the second time that day, words failed him. So he got on his bike, drove up to what Opie dubbed Jax’s Thinking Spot on the outskirts of the Wahewa reservation and wrote a letter to his future child. 

The run in with Tara aside, the appointment had been a turning point for Jax. Hearing that even with CHD his child could live a long and healthy life removed his only concern about them having a baby. He poured his heart out to his little girl or boy on those pages, telling them how excited he was to meet them. He told them he was looking forward to watching them grow inside Issa’s belly, talking to them before they even came into the world. Hell he was even looking forward to whatever crazy ass pregnancy cravings Issa was inevitably going to have. The woman put barbecue potato chips on vanilla ice cream now. No telling what the hell she’ll put in her mouth when she’s knocked up. 

He also wrote his fears about being a good father. Without a doubt, he knew Issa would take to being a mother like a duck to water. Her sailor mouth and belief that stabbing was a viable solution at least 50% of the time aside, she was already pretty motherly. It wasn’t a stretch to see her bringing their child to the bakery, having them standing on a little stool to “help” mommy make cookies. It was everything he’s ever wanted in one image. 

But he could admit it terrified him, being responsible for a tiny human. Would he be a good role model for them? If they had a girl, he wouldn’t even know how to do her hair. Sure he’s watched Issa do all manner of things to her hair over the years but he’s never been involved in the process. She would have to teach him how to do it and he doesn’t like that burden falling on her shoulders. 

The rumble of bikes rolling into the lot shakes him out of his thoughts. He turns to see his dad, Chibs and Kip getting off their bikes. Jax tables his worries for later, shifting into SAMCRO mode for Church. 

As he walks towards them, he stops in his tracks when Kip takes off his helmet. All he can do is blink a few times because the prospect is sporting bright pink hair. 

Kip shakes his head, pointing a finger at Jax. “Your wife is a goddamn menace!”

And yeah, Jax isn’t surprised that Issa is somehow involved. 

“You look like a cross between a Cabbage Patch Kid and a Troll doll,” John says, blowing smoke in the prospect’s face. 

“Or one of those Brony idiots,” Chibs none too helpfully adds. “What the hell’d you do to the lass to deserve this?”

Kip whips his head over to his president and sponsor. “Juice used her to lower my guard.”

“Kind of your own fault for trusting her. Don’t let that sweet, innocent face fool you,” Tig says, coming out of the TWM office. He ruffles Kip’s hair, takes a puff of his cigarette and blows the smoke in the prospect’s face. 

“This isn’t funny! I’ve washed my hair over 10 times and it’s not fading,” Kip sounds more than a little panicked. 

Unfortunately for him, none of his brothers seem to care. 

They all start heading towards the clubhouse, leaving Kip to his own devices. John slaps him on the back as he walks by. “You’ll figure it out, grunt.”

The clubhouse hasn’t changed much over the years. They considered revamping it once their bottom line no longer resembled an 80s slasher flick. But John is a romantic and he couldn’t bear to part with the history etched into this place. 

Gemma did, however, make them redo the floors and walls. “Maybe that will get rid of the stale cigarette and old pussy smell.” 

It didn’t. But the boys were fine with that. 

As they start gathering around the table, Jax taps his dad on the shoulder, jogging his head to the side. They go off towards the bar, John leaning against a stool and stretching out his long legs. 

John Teller is the living embodiment of the phrase “if you’re going through hell, keep going.” There were so many times he could have died, ended up with a life sentence like Otto or simply given up on his family. He’s endured a war, the death of his youngest son and being married to Gemma. The man deserves a medal just for the last one. But through all that, he not only managed to turn his club around, he likes to think he raised a pretty decent human being. No matter what SAMCRO accomplishes, he will always feel like Jax is his true legacy. That’s why he’s more than a little worried by the look on his son’s face.

“What’s up?” 

Jax decides it’s best to rip off the band aid fast. “Tara’s back in town.”

John lets out a low whistle. 

“Issa and I ran into her after our appointment with Dr. Namid.”

“That’s a nightmare scenario if I’ve ever heard one,” John shakes his head. He adores his daughter-in-law and can only imagine how seeing Tara affected her. 

“Tell me about it. It took all my negotiating skills to wiggle our way out of Tara trying to start something right in the middle of the hallway.”

“What did Issa say after you managed that?”

Jax shrugs, trying to keep from feeling so defeated. “She said she was fine. Which you know in Issa means she’s either going to go stab someone or cry into a pillow. It’s really a toss up at this point which one she’s doing right now.”

“Well I got a list of assholes I wouldn’t mind seeing gone. I can send it along if that’ll help her blow off some steam.”

“Please don’t encourage my wife to commit a felony,” Jax stops to think about it and adds, “Again.”

John huffs out a laugh, pulling a cigarette from his kutte. “That last time wasn’t my fault. You know how much she loves baby goats.”

John moves his head to the side, blowing out his smoke. Jax knows John is thinking of the right way to tell him he needs to be careful. John is the last person who should admonish a man for straying from his relationship. It took a lot to get to a healthy place with Gemma and he made quite a few mistakes along the way. He just hopes Jax doesn’t follow in his wrong footsteps. 

“Look, son. I wasn’t really Tara’s biggest fan back when the two of you dated. She… is very good at playing the long suffering damsel in distress.”

Jax always knew John was wary of Tara when they were together. But while Gemma did absolutely nothing to hide her disdain for his ex-girlfriend, John only gave his opinion when Jax asked for it. 

“I know you have a good heart and you mean well. But don’t let it lead you into a trap. Just stay clear of her while she’s in town. It’s not like her dad had a complicated estate. Or an estate of any kind to be honest. Which makes me think that’s not the real reason she’s in Charming.”

That same thought had crossed Jax’s mind while he was riding around. The only thing he remembers about their run in with Tara was her claiming to be in town to settle her father’s affairs. Her father was an alcoholic who gave practically his entire paycheck to the nearest bar. If their house hadn’t been paid off before Tara’s mother died, her and her father probably would have been evicted. She could have paid someone to clean out the house and hired Jacob Hale to handle selling it. If she wanted her dad’s old Cutlass, she could have shipped it to wherever she lived. Or flew in to get it herself and drove it home. There is no good reason for her to be back in a town she couldn’t wait to leave. And if Jax has come to this conclusion, you best believe Issa has too. 

John slaps his son on the back, bringing him in for a side hug. “Let’s finish up Church and get you closer to going home. Issa probably shouldn’t be left unattended with all the weapons Happy’s given her over the years while Tara is in town.”

Jax can’t help but agree with John on that one. 

They make their way to the table and John calls Church to order. Bobby gives a brief update on their financials, highlighting that both the Las Vegas and Van Nuys chapters are cleaning up thanks to the addition of camgirls and premium website subscriptions to their Redwoody studios. 

“That’s all Juicy boy’s doing,” Chibs smacks his hand down on the Reaper table, everyone else joining in to give Juice his due. 

Juice has been instrumental in moving Redwoody into the modern age. While Nero Padilla, Marisa’s second cousin, does an excellent job managing operations and Luanne is a bit of a genius when it comes to keeping up with the best talent and trends in porn, Juice’s tech skills have given SAMCRO an entirely new revenue stream. As his sponsor, Jax couldn’t be prouder of him. 

Juice shrugs off the praise, still not used to the sense of belonging he’s found with the club. “Getting you guys off dial up was really my crowning glory.”

“Just shut up and take the compliment, Einstein.”

Out of nowhere, Happy chimes in, “I’ve noticed the quality of the girls has gone up too.”

“Sampling the merchandise, Killah?” Tig teases his best friend. 

“Someone has to do quality control. Might as well be my right hand.”

Juice stares for a minute before shaking his head. “That is a disturbing image I could have done without.”

Tig being Tig, grabs Juice’s hand and tries to put it on Happy’s dick. John lets it go on until he’s pretty sure Happy’s about to pull out his gun. 

“All right, all right. We have other things to go over before it’s Jack Off Happy time.”

Opie puts his hands up in the air, shaking his head. “I am not volunteering for that.”

Piney rolls his eyes and takes a shot of tequila. 

“It’s not even three, old man,” Jax says, taking the bottle away from him. 

Piney shrugs. 

“It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

“Speaking of crippling alcoholism,” Chibs corrals the conversation back to business. “The meeting with SAMTAC went well. I agree their market is better suited for just a brewery.”

Their Tacoma chapter recently petitioned for a Redwood Originals franchise, wanting to only concentrate on the craft beer side of things. Chibs had gone up for a meeting with their president and vice president to go over their plan. 

“So how do you want to handle it?” John asks. 

“Have Lorca and Bowie come down for a few months, learn the business inside out and go from there.”

John nods and puts it up for a vote that easily passes. “I’ll ask Gem to get two dorms ready for them to use while they’re here.” 

He turns to Jax asking for an update on the rally. 

“Everything’s set. Kickoff is tomorrow night at the Choppers showroom. Ma’s hired Hog Heaven for catering and Issa’s handling the dessert bar. She said something about making a replica of the KR-5 model. We’ll see how that goes.”

“You doubting my daughter’s abilities?” 

Bobby grunts, looking over the top of his glasses. “Unless he wants to sleep on the couch for the next few weeks, I think he knows better than to do that.”

The rest of Church runs smoothly for the most part. Even if Happy does end up flashing Tig’s buck knife in Juice’s face. 

Everyone starts to scatter, Opie and Jax heading out for a meeting with one of their parts suppliers. Luckily, once he’s done with it, he can head home for the day. Jax is lighting a cigarette, walking behind Opie when his best friend stops in his tracks. 

“What the fuck, dude? I almost set your kutte on fire.”

Opie turns around and hooks his thumb over his shoulder. Jax looks in the direction he’s pointing and lets out a string of curses. 

Tara is standing beside her dad’s old Cutlass, using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Jax had warned Opie she was back in town so he’s not at all surprised to see his friend’s old flame waving at them. 

“She’s quick, I’ll give her that,” Opie mutters to himself.

This is the last thing Jax needs. Him and Opie should have left for their meeting 20 minutes ago but Church ran over. He really does not want to deal with her right now. Or ever. She, however, seems to have other plans. Jax glances over at the garage office where he knows Gemma is working for the day. He hasn’t gotten around to telling his mom about Tara’s return. He sure as shit doesn’t have the time to break up a cat fight, so he sends up a prayer that Gemma stays inside. 

Opie and Jax can’t ignore Tara since she’s conveniently parked in front of their bikes. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Jax reluctantly makes his way over to her with Opie in tow. No way he’s talking to her without witnesses. By the look on her face, she’s none too happy that Opie will be joining them. 

Jax really doesn’t give a shit. 

“Hey,” she gives him a wide smile, not too subtly thrusting her chest forward. 

Jax can see Opie rolling his eyes in his periphery. He decides to use the Cutlass as a distraction. He walks around it, taking in all the details. The car is a bit of a time capsule of their teenage years. He knows she’s banking on it bringing up memories for him. 

“Man, this thing’s still around?” he asks. He keeps his concentration on the car, avoiding the eye contact Tara is trying to make with him. 

“Yeah. Thought I’d pull it out from all those boxes in the garage and get it tuned up. Think you can squeeze me in?”

Opie answers for him. “Not today. Bring it back tomorrow and we’ll get Kip to look at it.”

She gives Opie a dirty look and he gives her a shit eating grin in return. Then blows his cigarette smoke in her face. Jax has to bite his lip to keep from laughing. 

Not to be deterred, Tara saunters up to Jax. He’s made the mistake of standing in front of his bike, so he has nowhere to go when she steps into his personal space. 

“I was thinking we could grab dinner while I’m in town and catch up. Seems a lot has changed around here.”

Once again, Opie takes it upon himself to answer for Jax. “Over your dead body. I mean that literally because Issa will slit your throat with John’s KA-BAR before she lets that happen. And Happy will help her dispose of your body. Me too, probably.” 

Tara’s eyes widen as she takes an imperceptible step away from Opie and closer to Jax. She turns to him, clearly expecting him to admonish Opie for the not so veiled threat against her. She looks a bit startled when all Jax does is shrug. 

“Yeah I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides, you probably can’t wait to get out of this small, incestuous town.” 

He purposely uses the exact words she said when she tried to convince him to leave Charming. 

He pushes off his bike, moving to get on it. It’s a clear dismissal. Before he can make a clean getaway, he hears the telltale sounds of dangerously high heeled boots on pavement. He looks up to see Gemma, smoke practically coming out of her ears, heading their way. 

“Oh shit,” he puts his head in his hands, cursing the day he was ever born. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” 

Gemma would make a crappy welcoming committee. 

Opie, the traitor, starts up his bike and throws a “see you there” over his shoulder. Jax has never seen his best friend move so fast in his entire life. 

Before Tara can even think to form a reply, Gemma gets in her face. “You need to get your bony ass off my property. Better yet, get the fuck out of Charming. No one wants a conniving bitch in this town.”

“And yet you’re here,” Tara throws gasoline onto the fire. 

Jax looks up to the sky and prays for an earthquake, a tornado or hell even a drive by shooting. Anything to stop this. He looks back in time to keep his mom from smacking the ever loving shit out of Tara. 

While holding his mom back, Jax levels a death glare at Tara. “I think we’re done here. Have a safe trip back to wherever the fuck you came from.”

“But..”

Gemma straight up growls at Tara. She scurries to her car and wastes no time getting away from the SAMCRO matriarch. 

Jax counts down in his head and before he can get to four, his mom is turning her rage on him. “When were you going to tell me Fatal Attraction in Heels was back in town? Does Issa know? Why was she even here? I swear to god Jax, if you don’t keep it in your pants…”

“Wo wo wo! Can you shut up for a damn minute and let me speak?” He waits for her to take a breath, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. 

“I just found out today, alright? Issa and I ran into her after our appointment with Dr. Namid. And give me a little more credit than that, Ma.”

Gemma arches one perfectly manicured eyebrow at her son. 

“Thanks. Nice to know how much faith you have in me.”

“I believe in you. I just don’t trust her. She was already putting on that “woe is me” routine. I could see it from the office window. The manipulative little…”

“Ma, I really don’t need this right now. Ope’s already left for our meeting with Mighty Auto. Can we table the lecture for another time?”

“This isn’t funny, Jackson. She all but threw her pussy in your face.”

“Well, I didn’t catch it, now did I? I have no intentions of engaging with her. She said she’s only in town to sell her dad’s house. I’ll steer clear of St. Thomas and anywhere else she might be until I hear she’s gone. You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt, Issa.”

“Not intentionally, no. But that witch is here to cause trouble. Don’t make it easy for her.”

“I won’t,” he promises. He gives her a kiss on the cheek before getting on his bike. 

And as much as he’d like to think otherwise, he has a sinking suspicion Tara plans on making his life a living hell. 


	4. Issa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about Issa Trager (and the author sort of outs herself as a former professional baker), have Daddy/Daughter time with Tig and learn some unsettling news from Kip’s old lady Cherry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Issa’s business partner is Lyla but she is obviously not with Opie in this universe. This is what I imagine Lyla would have been like had she never been hooked on drugs. In seasons six and seven, you see glimpses of her business acumen. Combined with her sweet but “able to endure a lot of hardships'' personality, I thought she would make a great business partner for Issa. 
> 
> Also, Issa is battling with some anxiety and self doubt in this chapter in case that’s triggering for anyone.

Issa has her headphones on, her I’d Like To Beat The Shit Out of Someone Spotify playlist blasting away as she kneads dough. There is still another hour before Sweet Pea Bakery opens to the residents of Charming. She’s gotten a lot done already, fueled by rage, confusion and fear. She couldn’t sleep last night, the tension between her and Jax a little suffocating. She knows she should extend an olive branch to him but she isn’t ready. She’s still trying to process what Tara Knowles being back means for her marriage.

After tossing and turning for hours, she quietly got up, dressed and headed into her second home. Sweet Pea Bakery, named after her parent’s nickname for her, is a culmination of her and Lyla’s blood, sweat and tears. It has slowly but surely become a Charming staple, the friendly neighborhood spot Issa thought the town needed.

After Issa graduated from high school, she used a nest egg Marisa left for her education to go to the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena. The campus was a two hour drive from Charming and Tig had wanted her to move in with him and commute. But Issa wanted the full college experience, so she got an apartment near campus and threw herself into her studies. To help cover living expenses, she got a part time job bartending at a bar called Ana’s Cantina. That’s where she met Lyla Dvorak.

Lyla was one of the shift managers and Issa always loved working with her. Lyla ran a tight ship but was also an absolute sweetheart. Even though Lyla was a few years older than her, they got along like a house on fire. Lyla didn’t have much in the way of family, so Issa would take her back to Charming on weekends and school breaks when she could. Lyla fell in love with Charming and Gemma took her in as one of her own. Lyla eventually decided to move to Charming, helped along by her unexpected relationship with Chibs. Issa had been a little surprised by Lyla’s easy acceptance of Chibs still being married and having a daughter. But Chibs adored her and made Lyla happy. And that was all Issa wanted for her friend.

After Issa finished her time at the CIA, she was accepted for internships at King Arthur Flour and Duff Goldman’s Charm City Cakes. Both experiences were instrumental in honing her pastry and baking skills. Through King Arthur, she was able to truly learn the science and technique of bread and pastry baking from a centuries old institution. It was challenging, especially since it was located in Norwich, Vermont. Issa had never been that far away from home and was definitely not used to Vermont’s harsh winters. But it turned out to be an incredible learning experience.

Her time with Charm City Cakes was entirely different from King Arthur. For one, the internship was located at their Los Angeles shop, which meant going home for holidays was easier. She was terrified when she first started because Duff Goldman was one of her baking heroes. His custom cake designs always took her breath away and she yearned to soak up as much knowledge from his shop as possible. She wasn’t expecting to work that much (or at all really) with Duff but she couldn’t have been more wrong.

After being there for a little over a month, their lead decorator Abigail began giving her more challenging tasks. Abigail was a blast to work with and she was more than happy to share her knowledge. Issa learned just about every single decorating technique under the sun from her. Six months into her internship, an intricate cake for San Diego Comic Con was falling horribly behind schedule. In desperation, Abigail pulled Issa in to do a lot of the smaller, repetitive fondant work for the cake’s cityline. That’s when she met Duff. He took the time to not only thank her for helping but gave her tips on how to make the sculpting go faster. After that, Abigail and Duff had her working on more and more cakes. It was a dream come true for Issa and she made lifelong friends out of every single person in that shop, including Duff. In fact, he made her and Jax’s wedding cake as a gift.

Duff had offered her a job after her internship was over but Issa was feeling the pull to return to Charming. She missed her father. She missed the club. She _missed_ Jax. He understood and let her pick his brain about opening a bakery. And the more she talked to him about it, the more attainable it seemed. When she made her permanent move back home, her and Lyla immediately started working on a business plan. Before they could begin applying for small business loans, Tig and her grandparents offered to help. She flat out refused at first, not wanting to risk their money. But they insisted and eventually she agreed to take it on the condition that it was a loan.

Lyla and Issa poured everything into getting the bakery off the ground. Lyla was a whiz with restaurant operations, freeing up Issa to concentrate on what she did best: baking and cake wizardry. There were endless late nights, difficult clients and a river of tears but it paid off for them. Seven years later, their staff includes three baking assistants, two decorators, six counter people and a part time admin assistant for Lyla. Once their wedding and custom cakes started getting featured in local and regional press, that side of the business exploded. Now Sweet Pea is considered one of the best bakeries and cake studios in the Central Valley. Issa could not be prouder of what her and Lyla have accomplished. Which is why whenever anything in her life is troubling her, she retreats to the one place where everything has been going right.

Issa is baking off the day’s selection of breads while kneading and proofing tomorrow’s batch. She’s concentrating so hard on slamming some sourdough bread against her work table, she doesn’t hear Lyla come into the kitchen.

“Man, what did that dough do to you?” Lyla asks, raising her voice to compete with Issa’s headphones.

Issa startles, dropping the dough to her floured work surface. She takes off her headphones, turning to face her friend.

“Just a lot going on at once this weekend,” she shrugs.

Lyla doesn’t look convinced in the least. But before she can call bullshit, Issa steers the conversation to business.

“When are Phil and Ratboy coming to pick up the desserts and cake?”

Lyla sighs, but lets Issa deflect. For now. She looks at the clipboard in her hand, consulting their delivery schedule for the day. “Party starts at 7, so they’ll be here by 4 for pickup. I’ve given them detailed instructions for transport. And I’m not sure what you did but Ratboy is mildly terrified of messing up.”

“Oh that,” Issa waves away Lyla’s concern. “I just told him I’d steal his bike when he least expected it, take it out to an open field and set it on fire if he fucked up the delivery.”

“That would explain the sheer look of panic permanently etched on his face.”

“If he can’t handle me, he shouldn’t be prospecting for SAMCRO.”

Lyla laughs as she makes her way over to one of their three walk in fridges. Issa has been guarding the design for the kickoff party cake and Lyla is dying to see it. She squeals when she finally lays eyes on the finished cake. It’s a life size replica of SCC’s most recent ready-to-ship model, the KR-5. Jax was instrumental in its design and build, working for over four months to get it right. He gifted Issa the very first one off the assembly line and she loves it almost as much as Shelby.

“How the hell did you pull this off??” Lyla walks around it in wonder. It’s hyper realistic and took Issa and her kitchen team weeks to complete.

“Lots of FaceTime calls with Duff and Abigail, honestly. I sketched out the design and they helped me work out any issues I’d likely encounter. Abigail was even nice enough to send along some pre-made fondant wheel spokes.”

“They may have given you advice and a bit of help, but this is all you and the girls. It’s gonna blow everyone away.”

Issa nods, clearly only half listening to Lyla. After a few moments of quiet, Lyla’s had enough.

“How about you stop avoiding and tell me why you’re assaulting bread dough.”

Issa finishes with the last loaf of sourdough, putting it in the proofing basket and setting it aside. She grabs her cup of coffee, swipes a blueberry, basil and lemon muffin from the cooling rack and sits on her work stool.

“Tara Knowles is back in Charming,” she says, not looking up from her muffin.

“Fuck me sideways. When did this happen?”

Issa shakes her head before taking a sip of her now lukewarm latte. “I have no idea. We ran into her after our appointment with Dr. Namid. She was practically eye fucking Jax right in front of me.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t stab her.”

“Didn’t have a knife on me,” Issa mumbles around a piece of muffin. “Jax thought it was ‘inappropriate’ to go to a doctor’s office armed. Last time I listen to him about that.”

Lyla waits to see if Issa will talk without prodding. When the room stays silent for a minute too long, she grabs a wooden spoon and pokes Issa with it.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?”

Issa puts her arms on the butcher block work table and dramatically drops her head down. Lyla hears some mumbling but is having none of it.

“How about you say that to me and not the table.”

Issa lifts up her head and gives Lyla a dirty look. Lyla, not one to be easily intimidated, stares right back at her. Issa bites at her lower lip before finally exhaling.

“There’s a small voice in my head whispering, ‘Maybe he was just passing time with me until Tara finally came back to him’,” Issa hates even saying it out loud because it makes her sound weak. “And it’s not going away.”

Lyla, being the sensitive and kind friend that she is, smacks Issa in the head with the wooden spoon still in her hand.

“Ouch! What the fuck, Lyla??”

“Stop being a whiny little bitch,” Lyla whacks her again on the hand for good measure. “That’s not the Issa I know. Anyone with functioning eyes can see how much that man loves and adores you.”

“Yeah well… he could have been settling. And now that she’s back, I can’t help but wonder…”

Lyla sighs, putting her arm around Issa’s shoulders. “Don’t let that little voice sabotage your marriage. The two of you are good together. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve walked in on you two going at it like rabbits. He would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship.”

It’s not that Issa believes Jax will up and chuck her for Tara tomorrow. Their love aside, he’d face the wrath of an entire motorcycle club if he did that. Happy would disembowel him for sure. What worries her most is that seeing Tara will cause him to start doubting their marriage. It would start small but the end result would be the same: Issa losing her person.

“If you really believe Jax settled for you because Tara left, why even be with him?” Lyla asks, pulling Issa from her thoughts.

She shrugs in response and takes a bite of her muffin to stall. She’s not sure how to get across what she’s feeling without coming off as pathetic. Jax has always been her Achilles heel and Tara is the stick that pokes hard at it.

“I've loved him for as long as I can remember. For me, having some of his heart is better than being with someone else who gives me all of theirs,” she chokes out those difficult words. “No one else understands me like him, you know? And he has such an amazing capacity to love, I figured he had enough for me and the ghost of what he had with her But now that ghost is back and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

Lyla pulls her into a hug and Issa takes solace in it. The last 24 hours have fucking sucked and Lyla’s hugs have been clinically proven to stop wars.

Lyla steps back, keeping an arm around Issa for comfort. “You have to trust him, honey. Or at the very least, share your doubts with him. Don’t shut him out.”

Before Issa can respond, there’s a knock at the front door, signaling the arrival of their front of house staff. Lyla lets her go but before leaving her alone, she grabs her face, smooshing it between her hands.

“Talk to him, you hear me?”

Issa nods as best she can given she’s in a cuddly headlock. Lyla goes to let in the morning’s crew, letting another day at Sweet Pea Bakery begin.

* * *

After Issa gets the rest of the day’s baking done along with her assistants and puts the fear of God into Ratboy and Phil, she decides to go harass her father. Anything to avoid adulting and going to talk to Jax.

As she pulls into the lot, she sees Tig and Venus talking near the picnic benches. It’s the worst display of flirting she’s seen since Juice tried to hit on her before knowing who she was. It also warms Issa’s heart.

After her mom died, Tig closed himself off to any meaningful relationships. He by no means gave up sex (and lord did she wish she hadn’t walked in on him and that croweater doing God knows what with peacock feathers and chains) but he shut away that part of his heart. At first Issa thought it was because he didn’t want to upset her. But after ignoring her repeated attempts to suggest he start dating, she realized he was protecting himself. Marisa was a hard woman to live up to and she figured her dad didn’t even want to try.

Then Venus Van Dam came into their lives. A few months back, Venus came to her old friend Nero bruised and bloodied. Her abusive bitch of a mother and asshole “stepfather” had disagreed with Venus’s decision to fully live her life as a woman. The terrifying amount of abuse Venus dealt with most of her life was heartbreaking. After seeing what her mother had done to her, the club was more than happy to make her and her husband disappear. Gemma, collector of lost souls and lonely people, added Venus to the family without a moment’s hesitation. Her gift with numbers made her the ideal bookkeeper for Redwoody.

Almost from the start, her and Issa became friends. Venus had such a warmth about her that you couldn’t help but love her. After the horrors of her childhood, it was a miracle Venus came out of it a loving and kind person.

It didn’t take Issa long to notice the chemistry between Tig and Venus. They seemed to just gravitate towards each other. Tig would give her such dopey smiles, Issa asked him once if he got diabetes from being so sweet on Venus. Tig insisted they were only friends but watching them now, Issa begs to differ.

“Time to cause some trouble,” Issa says to herself as she gets out of the car.

As she makes her way over to them, she sees Tig tuck a lock of Venus’s hair behind her ear. Venus is almost bright red from blushing and Issa feels her teeth aching from the entire scene.

“Hey you two,” Issa greets them, giving Venus a big hug. If Lyla’s hugs can stop wars, Venus’s can bring an entire field of dead flowers back to life.

“Well hello, Sugar. I haven’t seen you in days.”

“She’s been holed up in her cake fortress of solitude. Won’t let anyone see what she’s doing for the party tonight.” Tig kisses his daughter’s forehead.

Venus looks like she’s about to explode with excitement. “Oh I cannot wait to see what you’ve done! I’ll be there with bells on.”

Issa squints a bit, tilting her head to the side. “I’m thinking you might mean that literally.”

“Oh honey. That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

The three of them chat for a few more minutes before Venus takes a look at her watch. “I need to get going. I have a few duties to complete before the evening's joyous festivities.”

She air kisses Issa and then turns her attention to Tig. She shyly places a gentle peck on his cheek. “Goodbye, Tiger.”

The heart eyes are blinking like a neon sign on Tig’s face. Issa watches on in amusement as Tig stares longingly at Venus’s retreating figure.

“So… when are you gonna ask her out?”

Tig looks over at her, confusion on his face. “I don’t know what you’re…”

Issa puts up her hand, not having any of it. “Don’t even try it. You practically wrote, T.T. hearts VD on the sidewalk.” Issa blinks for a second before clapping her hands with glee. “Oh my god! That is the best accidental sex joke I’ve ever told!”

Tig rolls his eyes, walking towards his office, Issa following like a baby duckling. “I don’t know who lied to you and said you were funny.”

Issa plops into a chair next to Tig’s desk, putting her feet on the corner.

Tig looks at her shoes, then down at the floor and back at her. “Were you raised in a barn?”

Issa has to stop herself from mentioning his arrest for assault and indecent exposure inside a livestock transport. There’s a momentary stare down until she relents and removes her feet from his desk.

“Thank you!” he says, sitting down himself. “Now to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Nothing much. Was a little bored and I wanted to come and bother you. Speaking of, you never answered my question.”

Tig is suddenly very interested in the paperwork in front of him. Issa reaches over and snatches it from him. “Don’t ignore me, dad. You should ask her out. Venus could be good for you.”

He runs a hand over his face and finally meets her eyes. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt even remotely like…”

Issa reaches out to squeeze Tig’s hand. She can see how conflicted he is about his feelings for Venus. She wants to alleviate at least one concern he may have about them.

“Dad, it’s okay. Mom’s been gone for over twenty years. She wouldn’t want you to close yourself off from someone that could make you happy.”

“I know that in my head but my heart is taking a little while to get on board,” he pats her hand, giving her a gentle smile. “I’ll get there though. Just… give your old pop some time.”

Issa decides to give him a break for once in her life and changes the subject.

“I think the appointment with Dr. Namid was good for Jax. Looks like we’re gonna make you a grandpa soon.”

“I will pay you a thousand dollars to go up to Gemma and call her grandma,” Tig dares her, leaning back in his chair.

“Yeah I don’t need money badly enough to risk losing a limb,” Issa shakes her head. “But I’d like to think you and her would be happy to have another little Teller-Trager running around.”

“Lord help us all. That kid will either rule the world or burn it to the ground.”

Issa shrugs. “At least they’d be aiming high. As a mom, it would be my duty to support whatever they do.”

Tig lets the conversation ebb and flow a bit before lowering the boom.

“I saw Tara was back in town.”

Issa has absolutely zero interest in opening up that can of worms.

“God, I really don’t want to talk about her right now. Can we concentrate on making you feel old?”

Tig gives her a once over, his startling blue eyes boring into the depths of her soul. Whatever he sees on her face makes him decide not to push it. He leans forward, shaking his head.

“Kid, I’m too young for you to make me a grandpa.”

“Regularly fucking co-eds doesn’t make you young, Dad. Which is all the more reason for you to test the waters with Venus. At least I know she’s disease free.”

“God, why are you so crass?”

Issa plasters a wide smile on her face. “Cause I’m Tig Trager’s daughter.”

He throws his head back, letting out a giant, old fashion belly laugh. “That you are, sweet pea. That you are. Now get out of here. I got work to watch Opie do.”

She kisses his forehead before heading back to her car. She’s looking through the messages on her phone when she hears someone call her name. Kip’s old lady Cherry is parked next to Shelby, waving at her. The image of Kip’s rainbow sherbert dye job makes Issa crack up. She has to stop for a moment to get herself under control. Cherry rolls her eyes, stuffing bags of SAMCRO swag into her trunk for the rally.

Cherry’s trying hard to hide a smirk when Issa finally reaches her. “Thanks for making my old man look like a bag of cotton candy.”

“Oh no no no! That was not my fault. He knew the consequences when he started a prank war with Juice.”

“Well you didn’t have to help him! You know how hard it is to fuck him when he looks like a prize from one of those claw machines?”

“Close your eyes and think of England!”

Cherry huffs, turning to put the last bag into her trunk.

“By the way, who was that stuck up looking bitch trying to cozy up to Jax the other day?”

And just like that, the good mood Issa was in after talking with Tig is gone. There’s a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach but she asks anyways.

“Brunette? About so high?” she asks.

Cherry nods. “Yeah. She had a big beast of an old black car. An Oldsmobile, maybe?”

Cherry has no idea the wrath she has unleashed on poor, unsuspecting Jax Teller.

“That would be Tara Knowles. Jax’s high school sweetheart.”

Cherry’s eyes widen, a touch of fear mixed in with “oops, I done fucked up” on her face.

“Well, I was all the way on the other side of the lot. I couldn’t really see much...” Cherry tries to back peddle.

Issa’s having none of it.

“Excuse me. I have a husband to go murder.”

Cherry can only watch helplessly as Hurricane Isabelle gets in her car and peels out of the lot.


	5. Jax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hell that is Hurricane Isabelle is unleashed and Jax has finally reached his limit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fight between Jax and Isabelle gets heated, to say the least. They are both very passionate and stubborn people and are lashing out from places of fear. Isabelle hurls some nasty accusations at him and Jax is having none of it. Nothing physical happens of course but I wanted to portray a fight that was realistic to the situation. Hence no punches were pulled. 
> 
> Also, there’s a bout of rough sex in this chapter. It’s as much for physical release as it is for taking their frustrations out on each other. Everything that happens is consensual though.

Jax is in their kitchen, finishing up a call when the front door slams closed _hard_. SAMCRO has been legit for years but he still keeps a few guns safely tucked away around the house. He gets one of them from the closet, does a quick inspection and cautiously rounds the corner. He breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that it’s Issa. Switching the safety back on, he puts the gun on the coffee table.

When he turns around, however, he wonders if he should have stayed armed. She has a thunderous look on her face and she’s burning a hole in their carpet with her frantic pacing.

This is not good.

“Baby? What’s wrong?”

“You tell me. Does finding out my husband is meeting up with his ex-girlfriend behind my back count as something being wrong?”

Ohhhh. Shit.

Jax had meant to tell Issa about his run-in with Tara. He really had. But between the rally, dealing with rush orders from a big client and Issa straight up ignoring him, it slipped his mind. Which was now coming back to bite him in the ass.

“Issa, I was going to…”

“Going to what? Sneak around for weeks with little miss prune face before I caught you fucking her in our bed?!”

_Little miss prune face? What does that even mean?_ he thinks. When his brain catches up with the rest of her sentence, he goes from confused to downright pissed.

“The fuck did you just say to me?” he asks, stalking towards her.

Issa gets in his face, poking his chest with her index finger. “You heard me! At what point was I going to find out you couldn’t keep it zipped around her?!”

Her words knock the wind out of him. His heart clenches so tight, he worries he’s having a heart attack. What hurts the most is he can tell she believes what she’s saying. She really thinks he would do that to her. It stuns him speechless.

She rolls her eyes in disgust and stomps down their hallway. “Do you know how humiliating it was to hear from someone else that you and her were getting cozy right there on the lot? Didn’t even have the decency to take your salacious canoodling somewhere my DAD wouldn’t see.”

She has her back to him, rummaging around in her closet, but he can hear the tears and pain in her voice. If she wasn’t throwing around such batshit crazy nonsense, he’d try to comfort her. As it is, he kind of wants to put packing tape over her mouth.

“I wasn’t meeting with her! She just showed up on the lot, said she wanted a tune up.”

“Oh I’m sure she wanted a tune up - a dick tune up. Particularly yours.”

“It wasn’t like that! We barely talked for more than 10 minutes. Opie was standing there the entire time. Until my mother came over, guns blazing. Then he hightailed it outta there.”

She scoffs, rolling her eyes. “Like Opie wouldn’t cover for you.”

Jax jerks his head back. “So now Opie’s a lying, piece of shit too? What the hell is your problem?”

“My _problem_ is the fact that my _husband_ is having secret little dates with other women!”

“Oh now it’s women, plural? Do you think I’m just fucking my way through Charming?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” she hisses at him.

He knows what she’s insinuating and the shitty thing is, he can’t deny it. After him and Tara broke up and Issa went off to college, Jax let his dick run amok. He was young, single and only had to flash a smirk before women spread their legs for him.

He knew he was in love with Issa but she was two hours away. Plus he didn’t know if she planned on moving to Charming after school. He wasn’t willing to risk their friendship on the off chance she wanted to live here permanently. So no, he wasn’t a monk while she was gone. But as soon as Issa made it clear Charming was her home and they finally got their shit together, his playboy ways flew out the window.

“I’m not going to apologize for having fun when I was _single_ , Isabelle. But I have NEVER done anything to make you think I’d cheat on you.”

“I’m thinking sneaky rendezvous with thirsty bitches counts as ‘anything’, Jackson!”

And that just takes his anger from a simmering pot on the stove to a witch’s cauldron bubbling over.

“I fucking love you, you psycho!” he shouts. It’s raw and it’s bitter and he can’t be bothered to lower his voice. “When are you going to get that through your thick head?! What the _**fuck**_ do I have to do to prove I never loved her? It has _always_ been you. Even when you make me so mad I wanna punch a goddamn brick wall!”

The tension between them is thicker than fog on a rainy London morning. Both of them have sailed pass their limits. Jax’s hands are firmly at his side, balled up so tight he’d be in pain if he was paying attention. Issa’s breathing is laborious, causing her chest to heave up and down. It’s distracting as fuck and he can’t help himself. He gets hard as a goddamn steel rod.

She’s wearing one of those wrap dresses that he loves, this one white with lemons all over it. The dress barely skims the top of her knees and he’s itching to run his hands up her thighs. Issa must sense the shift in his mood because before he knows it, they’re all over each other.

What they’re doing can’t be described as kissing. They’re trying to devour each other, replace the emotional hurt with a physical one. He backs her against a wall, bends down to grab under her knees and hauls her up. He wastes no time, finding her lacy boy shorts and ripping them away from her body. She groans into his mouth, hands clutching at his back for purchase.

There’s no pre-text, no making sure she’s ready. He just unzips his jeans, pulls out his cock and dives in. He can’t say he’s surprised to find she is fucking _soaked_. He places a firm but careful hand around her neck, forcing her to maintain eye contact with him.

“Look at me, Issa” he commands, thrusting wildly into her. “Do I have to fuck some sense into you, huh? Ruin this pussy until your brain stops feeding you bullshit?”

She refuses to answer, managing to pull away from his hand and closing her eyes.

And that. That will not do.

He puts her down, spins her around, slaps her ass once, twice, three times before plunging back into her. He grabs her throat from behind and plasters her to his chest as his hips set a frantic, staccato beat.

“You’re so fucking stubborn.” he grunts.

“So are you, asshole,” she lets out a filthy moan as Jax hits just the right spot. “Oh god, yes. Fuckkk. Right… god right there.”

He twists her hair around his hand just so and grabs it like a set of reins. He pulls until her back is bowed and her ass sticks out even further. He bends slightly so he can get a deeper angle.

“After everything we’ve been through, all I have said and done, how the fuck do you believe I’d ever cheat?”

Issa shakes her head as best she can, tears starting to fall from her eyes. He knows she doesn’t have a legitimate answer to his question. Knows this is just a manifestation of her anxiety. Knows he should be holding her and cherishing her, not fucking the living daylights out of her. But he’s tried the nice way before and look where it’s gotten him. So he’s fighting dirty because he’s not letting anyone ruin what they have, including her.

He lets go of her hair, moving both hands to her hips to steady her. There are sounds of pleasure mixed in with her sobbing. And as much of a dick as it makes him, this is what he wants. She was closing herself off, hiding her emotions behind a mask and now her pain, her fear, her sadness is pushed to the surface. If he needed to use his dick to do it, all the better.

He moves a hand to her breast and pinches her nipple. It’s soft at first but he increases the pressure just the way he knows she loves it. He holds tight to her hip with the other hand, ready to go in for the kill. He widens his stance, bends his knees just a bit more and pushes her down on his dick while he thrusts up even harder. A few more strokes and he can feel her pussy clenching against him like a vice. She practically screams as she reaches her peak and he’s not far behind.

She falls forward, body going limp as a puppet being cut off its strings. Even though his brain is in a post orgasmic haze, he manages to catch her before she falls over. He maneuvers them to the ground, her back against his chest. He can’t be bothered to pull his jeans up but lets his cock slip from her.

He leans his forehead on her shoulder, waiting for them both to calm down. It’s only a few seconds later when Issa’s body starts shaking. And man, he really feels like an asshole because she’s not just crying. It’s a deep, guttural emotional release and it breaks his heart. He tries to pull her into a hug but she’s so damn stubborn. She scrambles from his lap, moving to lean against their bed. He watches helplessly as one of the strongest women he knows falls apart.

“Issa…” he whispers, trying to get her to look at him.

He’s not sure if she is ignoring him or can’t hear him over what has now become full on wailing. So he waits and resists the urge to reach out because that’s not what she needs right now. She has to get this out and he gives her the space to do it.

He runs a hand through his hair and uses the time to get his own scrambled thoughts together. Tara hasn’t even been back for 48 hours and she is already succeeding. Not at getting him into her bed or even getting him to think back fondly on their time together. Even if Issa wasn’t in the picture, he wouldn’t want Tara.

But she has managed to nurture that small seedling of doubt in Issa’s head into a goddamn forest. He never realized how deep it was and that makes him feel like he’s failed her. He thought she knew how much he loves her and is committed to their marriage. He thought they were both on the same page, only to find out they may be in different sections of the library.

When her crying starts to ebb away, she lifts her head but doesn’t meet his gaze. He’s been watching her this whole time. He doesn’t dare speak first though. He let his dick do the talking. Now it’s her turn to say her peace.

She wipes the tears from her cheeks and gathers her legs into a cross-legged position. The silence is killing him and it’s taking a huge amount of restraint not to do something. Right when he’s about to say fuck it and reach for her, she speaks.

“I hate feeling this way. I’m better than this. We’re supposed to be better than this.”

He nods along but keeps his mouth shut.

“When I came down the summer after freshman year... seeing you with her. God I felt gutted. And the two of you were all over each other, all the time.”

“I…” he starts but she shakes her head, making him immediately stop.

“You had no idea what you were doing to me. I know you didn’t do it on purpose. But she knew. She would look directly at me when I was in the room and you were both kissing. Always smirking at me when you would put your arm around her or whatever. She knew it killed me and she loved it.”

This is all news to him. He knew they didn’t get along but he had no idea Tara was provoking her.

“That’s why I stopped hanging out with you as much. Cause wherever you were, her vindictive little ass was right there. I didn’t have the time or the inclination to deal with her pettiness.”

Issa still hasn’t looked at him. He wants to see her eyes, wants to tell her he didn’t know. He needs her to look at him but she refuses. Maybe she can only say these things if she’s not meeting him head on.

“I was dealing with some stuff from home - my grandparents were fighting but tried to hide it. I was terrified they’d split up. I was relieved to come here for the summer. Couldn't wait to spend time with my best friends.”

This is yet another surprise for him. The Santiagos always seemed happy and in love. He never saw even the slightest hint of trouble in their marriage. His best friend was going through the same fears he had after Tommy died and he was busy getting his dick wet.

“Before you start feeling bad about chasing pussy instead of being there for me, I didn’t want anyone to know. Dad would have pulled me away from them if he found out. As much as I liked coming here during the summers, being with my grandparents helped me feel closer to my mom. I wasn’t ready to lose that. So I plastered on a fake ‘everything is fine’ attitude.”

“I wouldn’t have told Tig…”

“I know,” she interrupts him. “But I was also hiding my feelings for you. So one more lie by omission didn’t seem that big a deal.”

Even though she’s trying to absolve him of any guilt, it sits on his shoulders and judges him. He longs to hold her but knows he should wait. She has to be the one to initiate it.

Issa clears her throat and uses a random shirt on their bed to clean her face. He should probably tell her it’s dirty. When she uses it to blow her nose, he figures its cleanliness is irrelevant now.

“Anyways, it was fine. I hung out with the guys at the garage and Opie and Donna. Dad and I worked on restoring a knucklehead a war buddy sold him for cheap. It was in shit condition, so it took my mind off things. It was okay, you know. I didn’t get to see you as much, but at least I didn't have to deal with her. But apparently that wasn’t what she wanted.”

“What are you talking about?” Jax is thoroughly confused. Tara and him were together then. What more could she have wanted?

“Your sweet little girlfriend came looking for me on the lot one day. Said she just wanted to get to know me better. I took her at her word, even though I knew she was a fucking snake.”

Jax does _not_ like where this is going. Tara never made a secret about the fact that she didn’t like Issa. She wasn’t malicious about it but she told Jax it was better if they didn’t all hang out together. At the time, Jax didn’t want to rock the boat so he never asked her why. A decision he is now starting to regret.

“So we went to lunch. It started as fine as a lunch with her could be. She claimed she felt it was time she got to know one of your close friends. But then her questions started to get more pointed. Why did I follow you around all the time? Why were we even friends when to her it seemed like we had nothing in common? Then she launched into this whole, ‘Jax is meant for better things than Charming and I’m the woman that will help him realize his full potential’ speech. Apparently I was an obstacle to your greatness.”

_What… the actual fuck_ , Jax thinks. Tara saw him as a goddamn project? Something to mold into her perfect little Stepford Husband?

“About the time I’d had enough and decided to leave, she grabbed my arm and said, ‘If you think he’d waste his time with a sad orphan whose dad can’t even be bothered with her, you’re wrong.’ I may have punched her. More than once.”

“She said she got that black eye from her dad. She begged me not to go beat his ass.”

Issa shrugs. “He could have hit her too, who knows. He was a lowlife scumbag. I didn’t stick around to see if she had a shiner or not.”

Jax feels sick. All this time, Issa’s been carrying this around with her. No wonder she had doubts. They’d been planted years ago over a ‘friendly’ lunch that turned into an ambush.

“Why didn’t you tell me what she did?”

“Jax, I love you, really I do. But not everything in my life revolves around you -- not now and certainly not then. Once I punched her, I didn’t see the need to deal with her anymore. If you were happy with her and she treated you well, I didn’t give a shit what she thought of me. Plus it wasn’t my responsibility to point out you had shit taste in women. That was for you to discover on your own. Opie said he tried to warn you about her and you blew him off. I wasn’t going to waste my breath when clearly you liked being her pawn.”

Jax leans forward, pointing hard at the ground. “I didn’t _like_ being her pawn, Issa. I didn’t fucking know. Had you come to me…”

“Had I come to you and what? Told you she was a manipulative, backstabbing bitch? Opie did and you said he was jealous because Donna wasn’t putting out.”

Jax reared back, the memory of that conversation hitting him in the face.

“He told me all about that friendly chat. Your dick was doing the thinking and she had you by your short and curlies. No telling what accusation you would have thrown at me. Not to mention little miss prune face would have told you some sob story and turned it around to benefit her.”

He still has no idea what little miss prune face means but is smart enough to know now isn’t the time to ask for clarification.

Issa lets out a bone deep tired sigh, rubbing her hand across her forehead. “It didn’t matter in the end. That delightful meal happened towards the end of my vacation. The next summer you seemed to make more of an effort to hang out with us on your own and I didn’t see her all that much. When I did, I always made sure I was playing with a switchblade or flipping around one of Dad’s Bowie knives. Shut her right the fuck up.”

And that explains the weird summer when Issa’s true fascination with knives began.

“I will say this. When the two of you finally broke up, me, Opie and Donna went out to celebrate. Got shit faced and toasted your emancipation. Well as much as you can consider drinking Boone’s Farm out of Dixie cups toasting.”

Jax is positively reeling. His friends were truly afraid Tara would change him that much. He did notice when sophomore year started, Opie and Donna kept coming up with excuses not to double date with him and Tara. That’s why he started hanging out with them separate from her. Tara had hated it, accused Opie and Donna of trying to sabotage their relationship. Again, at the time she was putting out so he just gave surface responses to her complaints. He never took anything she said seriously because he didn’t take _her_ seriously.

As bad as it makes him sound, part of the reason he wasn’t upset when she broke up with him was because the sex wasn’t easy anymore. She would withhold it if he didn’t agree with whatever she said or wanted. It backfired on her because that’s when he started sleeping with the croweaters hanging around the clubhouse.

Looking at the situation now, he feels dirty and ashamed. He should have simply broken up with her. Or maybe never even let the relationship get that far in the first place. Her treatment of his friends aside, Tara didn’t deserve the boyfriend Jax was to her. She should have been with someone who shared her ambition and drive to leave Charming. It’s not a bad thing to have hopes and dreams beyond a small town life. But that will never be Jax Teller.

“I understand why you didn’t say anything when Tara and I were together. I was blinded by hormones and had a chip on my shoulder back then. But we’ve been together for almost a decade and you kept this to yourself. Why?”

“Not really much of a point,” Issa shrugs. “We all assumed once she left Charming, she was never coming back. Why waste time talking about things in the past when we were happy? I had no way of knowing she’d slither back into our lives.”

A silence settles between the two of them for a while. Jax has had a lot of information thrown at him in a short amount of time. Given what he knows now, Issa’s doubts start to make sense. He’s more than a little annoyed she never told him what Tara said to her though. Jax is fiercely protective of Issa, even though she can handle herself in most situations. He doesn’t like knowing someone he trusted, someone he cared about to some extent, caused her pain. He feels a bit responsible for what Tara did since he brought her into Issa’s life.

Issa brings her legs to her chest, putting her arms around them. She looks so small and sad and it’s killing him not to touch her.

“I haven’t handled her not so triumphant return well. I shouldn’t have shut you out. We should be concentrating on starting a family, not dredging up old bullshit.”

Jax shakes his head. “No. I’m glad this all came to the surface. Not happy about the how but I think this is good for us.”

Issa arches an eyebrow at him, reminding him far too much of Gemma.

“No, I’m serious. All this negativity wouldn’t be good for a baby. And I don’t want you to have any doubts about me, about us. If it meant I had to fuck it out of you, that’s just a win on all counts.”

“My god you’re a horny bastard.”

“My wife is fucking hot, I can’t help myself.”

She rolls her eyes at him but gives him the first genuine smile he’s seen on her face since their appointment yesterday. He decides to take a risk and reaches out for her hands. When she doesn’t resist, he scoots forward and brings her into a hug. She falls into him and it’s like he can breath again after being underwater for hours. A few minutes later, she crawls into his lap and burrows further into his embrace. They sit there for a while, reveling in the feeling of being close. His heart feels like it’s finally beating again.

“I’m sorry I accused you of cheating,” she mumbles into his chest.

Jax kisses the top of her head and nods. He can’t say it’s okay because it’s not. Her accusations hurt him a lot even if he understands the source of them now.

“I’m not happy about what you said but at least I finally know why you’ve always carried around this anxiety about her. But baby, you’ve gotta let that go before it destroys us.”

She lifts her head up to finally look him in the eyes. “I’m getting there and I’ll try harder, I promise.”

He kisses her nose, then her cheek and then places a gentle kiss on her lips. He brings his hands to the side of her face, pushing her hair away from it. She gives him a loving smile and that’s when he knows they’re gonna be okay.

“For what it’s worth, Opie threatened her and Gemma almost beat the shit out of her right there in the parking lot.”

“I doubt that’ll stop her. I’m not sure why she’s here but I know it’s not to ‘clear up her dad’s estate’. He wasn’t Blake Carrington.”

“I don’t give a shit why she’s in town. All I care about is that you don’t let her come between us. I don’t want her, Issa. I want you, I want our family. I’m not going to fuck that up. So please stop punishing me for something I would never do.”

She pulls him down to her and they fall into a long, languid kiss. She shifts to straddle his lap and he brings her even closer. They stop now and then to whisper _I love you’s_ against each other’s lips. They both need this desperately - this connection, this tenderness. They have to be on solid ground and united because he knows Tara isn’t done meddling. Not by a long shot.

But she is going to be in for a hell of a surprise when she discovers Jax isn’t so easy to manipulate anymore.


	6. Jax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the kickoff to the Charming-Redwood Original Motorcycle Rally weekend! And Jax is presented with the perfect opportunity to put Tara Knowles firmly in her place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though it’s a part of the MC culture, it always annoyed me that Jax didn’t set boundaries when other women aggressively flirted with him (I'm looking at you, Ima Tate). Yet his old lady was expected to “defend her turf”. There are two people in a relationship, so they should both be defending said turf. This is me giving Jax the opportunity to do just that.

* * *

The kickoff party starts with a bang - the official gunning of the engines. Each member of the Redwood Original chapter gets on their bikes lined up in front of the showroom. When John gives the signal, they start their engines and rev them for 19.67 seconds, representing the year SAMCRO was founded. Gemma and Issa man the stopwatch and raise their hands when time is done.

The gathered crowd whoops and hollers and Jax loves every single minute of it. The rally is a lot of work for him and his team but when he’s gunning his bike, seeing everyone all together, he knows it’s worth it. He reaches Issa’s side just in time for the fireworks, her favorite part of the party. Anything involving some sort of destruction makes her eyes light up like Christmas. Jax long ago stopped worrying about the implications of that.

The final part of the kickoff before everyone is let loose to party is bringing out Issa’s cake. While Jax knew she planned on making a replica of the KR-5, he thought it would be a small version that could fit on a table. When he sees Phil dragging the cake out on a goddamn pallet jack, his jaw hits the floor.

The cake is absolutely stunning. Every detail is a perfect rendering of the actual bike. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought it _was_ the actual bike. Everyone goes nuts when they see it and Issa makes sure her assistants are right there with her when people gush about it.

“What flavor is it?” John shouts out over the noise of the crowd.

“Dark chocolate whiskey cake with a chocolate whiskey ganache!”

Jax pulls Issa to him, planting a big kiss on her lips. “Fuck, I love you.”

She laughs, pushing him away. “God, you’re a cheap date.”

The biggest surprise by far of the night is Tig manning the fuck up and bringing Venus as his date. Watching the two of them dance around each other for months was downright painful. So much so, the guys started a pool, betting on how long it would take for Tig to pull his head out of his ass.

“You couldn’t wait a week, old man?” Jax asks Tig after Issa stops squealing like a stuffed pig at the sight of Tig and Venus together.

Tig gives him a confused look before Kip saunters up with a big wad of cash, Juice, Opie, Chibs, Bobby, Piney and Happy grumbling behind him.

“He’s just pissed he lost the pool. He was down for next week.”

Kip’s counting the cash obnoxiously in Jax’s face, all too pleased with himself.

“Whatever, Pink Panther.”

Issa smacks Jax on the chest. “Don’t be a sore loser,” she turns to Kip, trying hard not to laugh at his still flamingo pink hair. “What are you going to do with your winnings?”

Kip starts blushing, his cheeks almost matching his hair. “I was thinking of maybe buying Cherry a, you know, a ring?”

Everyone gathers around him, slapping him on the back, ruffling his hair and generally being assholes about Kip’s news. Issa and Lyla practically smother him to death with hugs before John insists they do shots to celebrate.

“Would you mind going with me?” Kip asks Issa, who nods her head so hard Jax is concerned she’ll give herself whiplash.

Having no interest in listening to Kip, Lyla and Issa talk rings, Jax excuses himself to go mingle. He is very happy that he and Issa were able to clear the air before the party. They also finally went over the information they got from Dr. Namid. Although it was already kind of a given, they officially decided to start trying - on their bed, their couch and then another time on his office desk. Just to be sure. He may convince her to do some trying in the copier room later.

He spends time working the room, shaking hands and making small talk. He has learned when people are relaxed and drunk, they’re more likely to impulse buy. Jax has scheduled a few of his salespeople to be on hand ready to feed said impulse. He has them rotating, manning the purchasing station they set up for only a few hours each. This is a party after all and he really wants them to enjoy it.

He finishes his last bit of networking for the night, shaking hands with a potential new long term client. The man is a tech billionaire with more money than sense and Jax is more than happy to part the fool from a lot of his money. He scans the crowd looking for Issa but she’s nowhere to be found. Not that it’s easy to spot anyone in this huge mass of people.

He does catch sight of Tig, Chibs and Lyla, who probably knows where his wayward wife has gone, hanging around the Redwood Originals makeshift bar. When he reaches them, Chibs thrusts a mug of beer in his hands. The wicked grin on his face makes Jax wonder what else is in the glass besides beer.

“It’s not tampered with, I promise,” Lyla assures him. “It’s the new batch they’ve been working on.”

Jax moves the glass up to the light to get a better look. It’s a pale amber color with a nice head of foam. He takes in the aroma of the beer before taking a sip. The flavor of the hops shift and change on his tongue before settling into something fruity and smooth.

“Man, this shit is good. When will it be on tap?”

“Probably summer,” Chibs tells him, taking a puff of his Cuban cigar. “Figure it’s a good beer for that season.”

It makes sense. It’s a lighter ale with a touch of citrus, which would pair well with fish tacos or chips and guac. Jax knows next to nothing about the mechanics of craft brewing but he sure as shit appreciates the results.

He leans against a stool, finishing off the glass. “Hey, you seen Issa anywhere?”

“Yeah. Her and Venus went to get tattoos,” Tig tells him. “She said it’ll probably take them an hour.”

As a part of the kickoff party, SAMCRO sets up a series of mobile tattoo stations for their artists to show off their talents. Both the stations and the bar are a great way to highlight their other businesses without being too obvious. John had the idea a few years ago and the bar and tattoo stations have been a huge hit every year.

“Speaking of tattoos,” Jax says, getting another beer from Ratboy playing bartender. “Frankie from North Hollywood may have scored big for SCC.”

“Yea? What’d that fucker do now?”

Tig and Frankie have a bit of a rivalry going. Mostly because Frankie got shitfaced and threw up on him.

Three times.

In a row.

“One of his clients is the showrunner for Metal & Mayhem. Seems they’re on the outs with Harley.”

Metal & Mayhem, a show about a violent motorcycle gang, recently finished its first season. It’s become wildly popular both with audiences and critics. It’s not always the most realistic portrayal of the MC life but they all grudgingly admit it’s pretty well done. For the first season, all the bikes on the show were Harley-Davidsons. That annoyed Jax because he knew their bikes were better.

Derrick Reeves, Metal & Mayhem’s showrunner, happened to be getting some ink last week. He told Frankie they were frustrated with the style of bikes Harley-Davidson gave them last season and wanted something new for the next one. Being a good brother (accidental vomiting aside), Frankie wasted no time inviting Derrick and the show’s producers to the rally’s custom bike showcase on Saturday.

Jax spent hours binge watching the show to get a better understanding of its overall aesthetic. Him and his build teams poured over all their designs to find ones they felt worked stylistically for Metal & Mayhem. They ended up selecting eight and all of them will be front and center at the showcase.

Jax is almost positive Harley simply gave the show bikes that were languishing in their inventory unsold. He made damn sure they put a lot more thought and care into their selections. He’s not leaving any detail to chance because he really wants this. It’s a huge opportunity to bring SCC to the national stage. And all SAMCRO has to do is sell the production company bikes at a little under cost.

He gives Tig and Chibs a run down of him and John’s game plan for tomorrow, getting their feedback. Once SAMCRO business is done, they all kick back and enjoy the party going strong around them. After the turmoil of the past few days, Jax needs a laid back night with his brothers. Knowing him and Issa are back on track is the cherry on top.

But just when he’s let his guard down and feels a nice buzz, Lyla lets out a string of curses.

“What’s wrong, luv?” Chibs asks her.

“Tara’s here,” she points behind Jax’s shoulder.

Tig looks positively homicidal. He never liked Tara, even before he knew Issa was in love with Jax. The few times Jax brought her around the club, she acted aloof and barely spoke. Tig called her a prissy bitch. Gemma used far more colorful language.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” he gives Jax the evil eye, as if it’s his fault.

“How the fuck would I know? I didn’t invite her. I’m not stupid, Tig.”

“That’s debatable,” Chibs jokes, trying to keep the peace between Tig and Jax.

“Well maybe if you don’t turn around, she won’t see you… oh fuck too late,” Lyla sighs. Tara has spotted them and she’s moving through the heavy crowd towards the bar.

At this point, Tig is eerily calm and still. One would think that’s a good sign. But for Tig Trager, it means he’s about to pull out his gun and empty the clip in someone’s head. Right now, he looks like he wants that someone to be Jax.

“I swear to god, if you fuck that bitch, they will never find your body.”

Jax is straight up done with everyone assuming he’d do that to Issa. He draws himself up, meeting Tig toe-to-toe. “I’m gonna tell you the same thing I’ve told just about every fucking person in Charming over the last two days. I have no interest in talking to Tara, let alone fucking her. And I’d really like my family and friends to give me a bit more goddamn credit, alright?”

Chibs and Lyla are watching the two of them like it’s a tight tennis match. There’s a brief stare down before Tig takes a swig of his beer and gives him a curt nod. Jax can hear Lyla’s sigh of relief behind him.

As much as he hates to do it, he knows he needs to speak with Tara alone. She has ignored his attempts at politely expressing disinterest. She has caused Issa and apparently the whole of SAMCRO to question his fidelity. But worst of all, she has disrespected the boundaries of his marriage. That is something he will _not_ let slide.

He’s about to put Tara Knowles firmly in her place.

“Look, let me talk to her alone,” he says, giving Tig a look when he tries to interrupt. “I can guarantee you she thinks the only reason I’m rejecting her is because other people have been around. If I tell her to fuck off when it’s just the two of us, that’ll let her know I’m serious.”

“He’s right,” Lyla agrees, surprising everyone. “As long as she thinks she has a chance, she’s going to keep at it. Jax needs to shut her down and do it fast. She won’t believe him if he does it in front of Issa’s dad and her best friend.”

Chibs and Tig reluctantly see their point and start to make themselves scarce. Lyla has been tasked with keeping an eye on Issa and running interference if needed. Even if this is for her benefit, the last thing she needs to see is Tara anywhere near Jax.

Tara makes it to them, a sickly sweet smile on her face. As Tig is leaving, he stops in front of her, eyes cold and hard. “How ‘bout you keep your knees together, Dr. Knowles. He’s a married man.”

The warning is clear in his voice and it makes Tara visibly flinch.

Once the bar stool next to Jax is free, Tara saddles up to it. He lights a badly needed cigarette, wishing it was a joint. When he sits there drinking his beer, not engaging with her, Tara’s smile dims a bit. Anyone else would see it as the ‘go away’ message that it is but she is nothing if not persistent.

“I’ve been walking around for a while, taking everything in. The showroom is amazing! I can’t believe how much SAMCRO has changed!”

Jax taps his cigarette on a nearby ashtray, not in any rush to respond to her insult wrapped in a compliment.

“Yeah, well. I always had faith in my dad and his vision for the club,” Jax’s tone is flat and he’s keeping a safe distance between them. “Everything that we’ve accomplished is because we put family and loyalty first around here. Those small, incestuous town values and all.”

She clears her throat, shifting uncomfortably as the awkwardness settles deep into the air around them. He takes another swig of his beer and does nothing to continue the conversation. He can tell she’s floundering a bit as to what to do next.

 _Good_ , he thinks to himself.

After the silence stretches on longer than is polite, she tries her luck again.

“I must say, I was rather surprised to hear you and Isabelle were married.”

Tara using Issa’s full name makes him chuckle at the memory of why she does.

The summer after him and Tara started dating, Jax wanted her and Opie, Donna and Issa to get along. So one day, he talked everyone into going up to the cabin. They spent most of the day swimming, hanging out by the lake and getting high. It was going okay-ish until Tara called Issa by her nickname without first asking permission, one of Issa’s biggest pet peeves.

Issa whipped her head around, giving Tara the hottest resting bitch face Jax had ever seen.

“My name is Isabelle to you.”

Her tone could have iced over the whole of Death Valley. Tara was stunned silent by the reprimand. Issa grabbed the joint from Opie’s hand, took a big inhale and then walked away. All before Tara could come up with even one coherent sentence.

That really should have been a warning sign to Jax but he was half baked and busy trying to get his dick sucked. Man, he was a fucking dumbass kid.

His stroll down memory lane must be taking too long because Tara waves a hand in front of his face. He polishes off his beer and signals for another before turning back to answer her.

“Not sure why that would surprise you.”

“Well, I mean wasn’t she like an annoying little sister to you?”

Jax gives her a ‘what the fuck’ look. Only a few minutes in and he’s already had enough of this entire discussion. He rolls his eyes, not giving a damn if it’s rude, and shakes his head.

“Not sure where you got that idea from. She’s the love of my life and I’m a very happily married man.”

Tara scoffs. “Love of your life? Really Jax? I think you’ve got a selective memory about our history together.”

“No, actually I don’t. I see it clearly for what it was - teenagers fucking around.”

For the first time, the saccharine smile completely falls from her face. He can tell this is not at all how she thought time alone with him would go.

“I think we both know it was a lot more than that,” she chastises him. He can see the frustration starting to seep through.

Jax takes another puff of his cigarette, giving her a long, measured once over. Everything Issa told him earlier is swirling around in his head and he is pissed. He keeps the rage in check though, not wanting to make a scene. He lets the smoke curl and drift between them because Jax is a dramatic, petty bastard when you fuck with someone he loves.

“You sure do think highly of yourself, don’t you? Standing there all bravado and bluster, telling me how I really feel.”

Tara’s eyes practically bug out of her head, mouth hanging open like one of those singing bass fish.

“You don’t know shit about me, darlin’. Never did. You leaving was the right decision for both of us.”

“How can you possibly say that? We had a connection, Jax,” she is starting to unravel, realizing she doesn’t have the upper hand.

“Just because you’re with _her_ now doesn’t mean you can put a revisionist spin on our relationship. What we had was real and true. First love is something you never really get over and you know that.”

“Oh I know,” he pauses, ostensibly to take a sip of his beer but the asshole in him wants to lull her into a false sense of security before smacking her with reality.

Sure enough, a self satisfied grin crosses her face. Then and only then does he finish his thought. “Why do you think I married Isabelle?”

That wipes the smile clean off her lips. Her face contorts as if she’s just sucked on an entire lemon.

“You and I? We never would have worked because we both wanted two very different lives. You wanted this polished, sanitized version of me that fit into your vanilla 20 year plan. Me? I just wanted a kutte, a bike and her. Thing is, I think you knew I was in love with her. That’s why you made a point to take her out to lunch.”

Her eyes widen and he can see the sheer panic in them.

“Oh yeah I know _all_ about that,” he smirks, fire raging in his crystal blue eyes. “You’re lucky I’m in such a good mood tonight. Otherwise, I’d grab Tig and Happy and have you explain that stunt to them. I’m sure they’d _love_ to hear all about how Issa was a… what did you call her?”

He waits a beat before snapping his fingers and pointing at her. “That's right. A sad little orphan whose father couldn’t be bothered with her. Yeah. I’m sure Tig would love hearing you say that.”

She starts sputtering, trying to come up with something, anything to cover her ass. But he puts a hand up to stop her. “Don’t even bother. I really don’t give a shit about anything you have to say.”

He hears Opie call his name. He nods his head in acknowledgment, grateful his brother is giving him an out from this bullshit. He wonders how he could have been so blind to how toxic they were together. They should have never made it past their first date. If you call fucking in the backseat of her dad’s Cutlass a date.

Before he leaves, he levels her with a stone cold glare. He wants to make sure she knows he means every word he’s about to say.

“I don’t know what sort of game you’re playing or how you thought your return to Charming would go. But let’s get something straight here and now. It _does not_ and _will not_ include me.”

He snuffs out his cigarette and grabs his beer, ready to leave. He has never been more done with a person in his entire life.

“Have a nice life, Dr. Knowles. And stay the fuck out of mine.”

He walks off before she can even open her mouth.


	7. Issa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time to celebrate another successful rally weekend and the birthday boy! Tara tries to meddle one more time but comes face-to-face with the wrath of Hurricane Isabelle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we’ve come to the end of this part of the story. I want to thank everyone who commented, subscribed, gave kudos and read my little version of Sons of Anarchy. I had a blast creating this verse and especially Issa. As I mentioned before, I will be doing one shots set in this verse, starting from how they got together. I have about 8 already sketched out and I’m sure the ideas will keep coming. I’ll more than likely post a new one each week!

* * *

Issa is helping Gemma and a crew of her employees and Gemma’s croweater minions put the final touches on Jax’s birthday/end of rally weekend party. They have taken over the entire public space of Redwood Originals Craft Whiskeys and Beers (locals simply call it Redwood’s because “there ain’t no need for all those extra words, we know where we’re going to drink.”). It is a wide, open concept area with a taproom on one side and a regular bar area on the other. The brewhouse itself, where their whiskeys and beers are made, is separated by food grade glass, allowing people to see production.

When the club voted to start the Redwood Originals line, Chibs was tasked with getting it off the ground. Chibs took Bobby along with him to tour craft breweries and whiskey distilleries throughout the west coast. Their goal was to get a better understanding of mass production and a sense of the look and feel they wanted for Redwood’s. When the breweries and distilleries found out Bobby and Chibs were starting their own, they happily shared their knowledge and gave them full tours of their facilities. Thanks to their help, it only took SAMCRO five months to get the brewhouse up and running. The taproom and bar were added a few years later.

Almost all of SAMCRO’s big events happen at Redwood’s. Issa wanted to get married here but Gemma faked a heart attack to get her way. She really committed to it too - staying in the hospital for days even though doctors insisted she was fine. Jax and Issa agreed to her demands just to get the hospital administration off the family’s back. As much as they wanted her gone, no one on their staff wanted to tell Gemma Teller no. Not after the Incident of Which We Do Not Speak in 1993.

But since neither one of them like to be told what to do, Jax and Issa eloped to Las Vegas two months before their Gemma approved (and planned) big wedding. To this day, only Opie and Donna, who served as their witnesses, know the truth. Jax and Issa celebrate their fake anniversary date with family and friends but have a private party for two on their real one. Usually involving no clothes.

Issa and her bakery team have put something special together this year for Jax. He likes Issa’s cakes well enough but the man is obsessed with pie. Another concession they made (so Gemma would stop occupying a hospital bed she didn’t need) was foregoing his wish for a pie bar. Issa has wanted to make it up to him for years but for various reasons, it’s never happened. This year, she was dead set on drowning him in an avalanche of pies.

Jax walks in and is met with a chorus of cheers, birthday wishes and general shit talking from his brothers, both from Charming and other chapters. He takes it all in stride, heading to where Issa is standing, a ridiculous birthday hat with a unicorn horn on her head. Right before he reaches her side though, he sees it - a massive pie bar. It takes up an entire wall and is filled with different flavors, small chalkboard signs identifying each one. The pies are displayed on an eclectic mix of vintage cake stands placed on wooden boxes of varying heights.

He turns to her and wastes no time kissing the common sense out of her. She’s so overwhelmed when he pulls away, it takes her a minute to remember they’re in public. Good thing too because she was _this_ close to dropping to her knees.

“I love it, thank you!” he says, grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t wait to stuff my face.”

“Well the girls helped. Just don’t go showing them your gratitude the same way.”

“Baby, my dick thank you cards only go in your mail slot.”

“Good lord, now I know you never had to work for pussy before me. Lines like that only work for hot guys.”

He laughs before smacking her ass. “Love you too, baby girl.”

Lyla brings out a citrus infused coconut cream pie, his favorite, adorned with a candle in the shape of the number 30. The entire bar sings him Happy Birthday as he blows out the candle.

“Did you make a wish?” Donna asks, probably thinking he’s going to mention starting a family.

Jax, however, is a fucking pervert.

“Let’s just say if it comes true, Issa will let me do that thing I’ve been asking for since we watched Sex Toy Story 4.”

He flashes Donna an innocent smile, as if he didn’t just announce to an entire bar that a) him and Issa watch porn together and b) he is a kinky bastard.

“For fuck’s sake, she is _still_ my daughter, asshole.”

Jax simply shrugs, pointing to Donna. “She asked.”

“Yeah because I thought you’d say trying for a baby. Not a sex thing you want to do with his daughter.”

“I mean, I’m happy to go into detail if…”

“And that’s enough,” Issa shoves a forkful of pie in his face, really wishing it was the whole damn thing. The Fucker.

John, who is Issa’s new favorite person, lets out a high pitched whistle to get everyone's attention. And put a stop to god knows whatever else would have come out of Jax’s mouth.

“Besides the birth of me and Gemma’s degenerate son, SAMCRO has another reason to celebrate. Starting in season two, Metal & Mayhem will exclusively feature SAMCRO Custom Choppers in their show!”

Issa can see the absolute joy on Jax’s face at the news. Him and his team busted their asses to get this opportunity. Frankie may have gotten them in the door, but it was their hard work that closed the deal. She is so fucking proud of them but especially so of Jax.

Tig starts chanting for shots, banging his hands on the bar and everyone follows suit. The bartenders waste no time lining them up. All the brothers, Issa, Lyla and even Gemma grabs one and downs them fast. They each slam their shot glass on the bar and the party is off to the races.

“Hey, come here for a second,” Issa pulls Jax off to the side and hands him a neatly wrapped gift.

Jax rips into it like a drunk kid at Christmas and Issa is a bit worried he’s going to tear the gift itself in half. When he sees what it is, though, he stops short. Nestled among the terrible aftermath of the Great Gift Wrap Massacre is a signed, first edition of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It’s bound in black leather with 22 karat gold Art Deco accents. Jax carefully picks it up, examining the cover and slowly opening it. It is his favorite book by far, so much so his current copy is showing signs of wear and tear.

Issa spent months searching for the book. She could have asked Juice to track it down but felt it would mean more if she did it herself. On an expedition to San Francisco, her and John, an avid collector of first edition books himself, found this particular one at a shop in the North Beach neighborhood.

“God, baby… this is…” Jax struggles to find the right words.

“JT helped me. He’s like the Columbo of rare books! But, you know, without the glass eye.”

Words failing him, Jax grabs her by the back of her head and shows his gratitude with his lips and a _lot_ of tongue.

“I guess that means he likes it,” she teases him when they come up for air.

He pushes a curl behind her ear, letting a finger trace her cheek. “I love it. And I love you. So much.”

“I love you too, you shameless horn dog.”

She lets him reel her in for another kiss. Her hands go to his hair, scratching down to the collar of his shirt. He moans into her mouth, splaying his hand across the small of her back. When they part, she skims her hand across his cock. He presses into her as his fingers find their way under her shirt.

“By the way,” she says, lowering her voice so only he can hear her. “You wasted a wish. I already bought the spreader bar for us to use tonight. Seeing as it’s your birthday and all.”

“Fuckkk,” he whimpers. “We can sneak out now, maybe grab a pie on our way. Preferably one with whipped cream I can lick off your...”

She puts a hand over his mouth because unlike her, he is not being quiet. She shakes her head at him, wiggles out of his embrace and goes to rejoin the party. Adding an extra sway in her hips just to torture him.

Everyone is letting their hair down after another successful rally weekend. Issa can’t help but marvel at how far SAMCRO has come under John and Gemma’s nurturing and guidance. There are so many ways the club could have lost its way or been corrupted into something ugly. But it hasn’t and it’s all because of every single person under this roof.

Jax and Issa are sitting in one of the bar’s smaller booths, passing a joint between them. She had asked Dr. Namid if marijuana would negatively affect a fetus if she used it before knowing she was pregnant. He told her it wouldn’t but advised her to limit her use while trying to get pregnant. She has definitely taken his advice, today being the first time since their appointment that she’s indulged. But she figures it’s a special occasion and who is she to abandon their annual tradition of getting baked on his birthday.

Jax takes a hit and turns to Issa, holding in his breath. His hand caresses her cheek before snaking around to the nape of her neck. He pulls her close and opens his mouth, signaling for her to do the same. He exhales the smoke into her mouth before chasing it with a heated kiss.

She loves doing this, loves the intimacy of sharing each other’s very breath. It may be her imagination but she always feels her highs better when they come from his mouth. They go a few more rounds before abandoning the joint all together and just making out like horny teenagers after prom. Issa’s head is fuzzy, both from the weed and Jax. His hands are edging dangerously close to somewhere they shouldn’t be in public. And it’s all feeling way too damn good for Issa to stop him.

Seemingly out of nowhere, like a chaperon at the aforementioned prom, John comes over to ruin Issa’s fun.

“Stop traumatizing Tig and come play pool with the old folks, kids.”

Gemma shoves her elbow in his stomach. “Who you calling old, you overgrown hippie?”

There’s nothing but love in her eyes when she says it and it warms Issa’s heart. She can admit she’s scared their baby will have CHD and has no idea what that could mean for them. But seeing how happy and light John and Gemma are with each other after enduring so much pain, she knows her and Jax will be okay.

They all head to a pool table while father and son trash talk each other. Gemma rolls her eyes at them and slings her arm around Issa. They decide to play couple against couple. Jax and Issa quickly realize John waited until they were high before asking them to play. The competitive asshole.

Issa is sipping on a house made root beer, waiting for her turn, when movement near the bar’s entrance catches her eye. When she gets a good look at who comes in, her blood boils. Tara must have balls of steel to show her face anywhere near here.

“She just doesn’t know when to quit,” Issa fumes.

Gemma follows her line of sight. “That stupid little bitch…”

Jax puts his arm around Issa’s waist. She can tell he’s worried she’ll shut down on him again. But she’s done letting Tara be a shadow hovering over their relationship.

“I’m fine,” she assures him as she hands him her cue. “Just gonna go have a chat with our friendly, neighborhood doc.”

“Issa…” Jax starts, reaching out to pull her back.

John stops him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Let her do this, son. She can handle herself.”

Issa pats Jax on the cheek and goes to confront Tara, trusty switchblade in hand.

She walks directly into Tara’s path, cutting her off from getting any further into the bar.

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t send you an invitation.”

“I’m not here to cause trouble,” Tara puts up her hands in supplication. “I uh… I wanted to come and apologize to you in person.”

Issa crosses her arms but keeps the switchblade prominently visible in her right hand. She is eerily quiet, waiting to see what other lies come out of Tara’s mouth.

Tara appears contrite, lowering her head before speaking again.

“I thought while I was here, maybe I could reconnect with ‘the one who got a way’, you know?” she lets out a humorless chuckle. “It wasn’t until I saw the two of you together that I realized he was never mine in the first place.”

Anyone else would take a look at Tara’s doe eyes and posture of defeat and accept her at her word. But Issa grew up surrounded by men who belonged to an MC. She can spot bullshit from ten miles away while blindfolded.

“You know, for some reason, I just don’t believe you,” Issa narrows her eyes. “I think you’re desperate and needed to try getting Jax on your hook one more time.”

Tara sputters, righteous indignation seeping from her pores like dime store perfume. “Desperate about what?”

“Joshua Kohn.”

Issa watches the color drain from Tara’s face.

“You’d be surprised what Juice can find when I ask him for a favor.”

Juice gives Tara a jaunty little salute from his seat at the tasting bar.

“Bet you thought you were sooo clever. Coming home to your pining, outlaw ex-boyfriend who was always quick to slay your dragons. Thought a few well placed tears after a heartfelt reunion was all it would take for someone else to do your dirty work.”

“I came home to get my dad’s affairs in…”

Issa rolls her eyes, raising a hand to stop Tara from being struck by lightning indoors.

“Man you are loyal to your lies until the end, aren’t you?”

Issa steps a little closer, flicking her switchblade open and closed. Tara tries to put on a brave face but her eyes keep darting to the knife.

“I bet you were shocked to discover that not only was SAMCRO no longer outlaw, your dragonslayer wasn’t a willing patsy anymore. Fucked up your plan six ways to Sunday.”

“Look, Issa…”

Tara gulps, immediately realizing her mistake. Before she can even apologize, Issa flicks out her blade and jams it into a table dangerously close to Tara’s side.

“Call me Issa one more time. I dare you.”

“Sssorry, Isabelle.”

Issa is probably a terrible person for delighting in seeing the abject terror on Tara’s face. Does she give a shit though? Abso-fucking-lutely not.

Issa pulls her knife from the table, waving it around as she continues. She always did talk with her hands.

“If you had come to me or Jax like an adult and not some bad Lifetime movie vixen, we would have helped. I’d never stand by and watch a woman get abused like that.”

Tara is struggling not to crumble under Issa’s withering gaze. She is failing miserably.

“But being the manipulative bitch that you are, you set out to destroy my marriage for your personal gain.”

“I really didn’t mean any harm.”

The fierce bitch face Issa is sporting is all Gemma. She has let Tara be the tiny pebble in the shoe of her relationship for far too long.

“I used to think you were Jax’s big first love. Sometimes even worried I was a rebound. But now I see how bad you would have been for him and how much he dodged a bullet.”

“I’m glad I don’t know the version of Jax he would have been if you kept your claws in him. Because that Jax would be a tormented, miserable soul.”

Their little showdown has attracted everyone’s attention. You can practically hear a pin drop in the bar.

“By the way, I had Juice “accidentally” release documented proof of Kohn’s abuse to all the major news and print outlets in Chicago. Your name, face and any identifying information was redacted, of course.”

Tara is obviously shocked Issa would lift a finger to help her. Issa rolls her eyes. Did the bitch not hear her _just_ say she wouldn’t stand by while a man abused a woman? She almost doesn’t want to tell Tara that she’s no longer in danger.

“Kohn’s superiors at ATF tripped over themselves in a rush to fire him, disavowing any knowledge of his violent behavior. Without their protection, Chicago PD worked fast to issue an arrest warrant.”

Tara looks thoroughly confused.

“If you checked your messages every now and then instead of being a meddlesome twat, you’d know all of this.”

“Apparently a Detective Peralta remembered your case and was pissed his superiors wouldn’t let him pursue it. He coordinated with Wayne and a team this morning to arrest Kohn at his motel room. ”

“I don’t…” Tara wipes a lone tear that’s sliding down her cheek. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

Ugh. How did Jax deal with her for three years? She's an insufferable twit and a shitty actress.

“Don’t thank me. That’s how a real fucking woman handles her business. She uses her brain, not just her pussy.”

Issa sees Tara relax a little, which she can’t help but relish. Because she’s not done with the good doctor. Not in the least.

She moves fast, backing Tara into a wall, forearm pressed over her throat. She jams her switchblade a hair’s breadth from the side of Tara’s face, causing her to yelp.

“There are three things of mine you don’t mess with, Dr. Knowles: my family, my Shelby and most of all my husband,” Issa seethes, pure rage radiating off her. “I don’t play nice when any of them are threatened.”

“Now that it’s safe for you to go back home, you’d be wise to do so.”

Before she lets Tara go, Issa leans in and whispers in her ear, voice like the harbinger of Death. “I suggest you pack up and leave Charming tonight. Before I set your daddy’s Cutlass on fire. With you in it.”

Issa steps back, allowing Tara to take a good long look at her face. All Tara sees is the most psychotic parts of Tig Trager staring back at her.

Then, like a switch was flipped, Issa flashes her a brilliant smile. She pats Tara on the back and says, “Have a nice trip back to Chicago!”

She turns on her heels, leaving Tara to fend for herself. Issa goes back to their pool game as if she went to the bathroom, not to terrorize her husband’s ex-girlfriend.

Jax pulls her close, doing a very thorough examination of her mouth with his tongue.

“Proud of you, baby.”

Issa simply shrugs but is inwardly preening at his praise.

Jax lovingly cups her face, a smile so soft on his lips, before saying, “That was hot as fuck. Wanna go try on Chibs’ desk?”

* * *

_This is what death feels like_ , Issa thinks to herself as she lays her head against the cool enamel of their bathtub. She has been hugging the toilet for the last fifteen minutes and the nausea won’t go away. This is the fourth day this week she’s spent her mornings praying to the porcelain god. At first she thought it may have been those tacos her and Juice got from a dodgy food truck on Monday. But when it kept happening, she realized she must have the flu.

It’s not the best time for it either. The bakery is going into the busy wedding season and her production schedule reflects that fact. She should already be at Sweet Pea but moving seems to make her stomach angry.

She hears their front door open and close, signaling Jax must be back from the drug store. He’s been hovering over her since she first got sick and it’s getting annoying. Granted, everything seems to be annoying her these days but he’s tap dancing on her last nerve. She sent him out to get some Pepto Bismol and ginger ale and to get a moment’s peace.

“Still can’t move without getting nauseous?” he asks.

“No I’m just peachy and thought the floor was a good place to waste away the day,” she snaps.

He bites his bottom lip, a smirk on his face.

“It’s not funny, asshole. I’m pretty sure I’m dying.”

Jax rolls his eyes, grabbing a hair tie. He comes over and gently gathers her hair into a ponytail. It’s a sweet gesture, especially since she was too weak to do it herself. She opens her mouth to thank him when her stomach gives another violent roll. There’s nothing left on her stomach, so it’s more dry heaving than anything else.

She risks getting up after she’s finished and is able to make it to the sink. She rinses out her mouth and reaches for her toothbrush. All the while, Jax is leaning against the door frame, a fond smile on his face.

“Ugh. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she says around a mouth full of toothpaste. “And stop smiling at me like that. You look like John Wayne Gacy and you know I hate clowns.”

She notices Jax is holding a brown paper bag and immediately perks up.

“Are those egg rolls? I’ve been dying for some since yesterday.”

“So let me get this straight, you’re craving egg rolls, you’ve had your head in the toilet every morning this week and you’ve made Ratboy cry way more than usual lately.”

He stands there with that same goofy grin and she’d really like to smack it off his...

“Oh my god! I’m a fucking idiot,” she says when it dawns on her.

“Nah,” he gathers her into his arms and kisses her forehead. “Hopefully it’s just early baby brain.”

She melts at his words. She’s wanted a baby for a while now and the thought of it finally happening has her giddy with joy. He hands her a pregnancy test but doesn’t move to leave.

“I’m sure you know how these work. Can you go so I can pee?”

Much to his amusement, Issa has never used the bathroom in front of him. It’s been a running joke between the couple since they started dating. But she is adamant that the day they start peeing (or worse more than peeing) with the door open is the day the romance is dead.

“Baby girl, I’ve had my tongue down there so much I might as well be your gynecologist.”

“Well that’s different! Stop teasing me and give me five minutes alone so I can try to aim at this stick,” she starts waving the pregnancy test in her hand for emphasis. “And why do they make these things so thin? Do they _want_ us to pee on our hands?”

At this point Jax isn’t even trying to hide that he’s laughing at her. She pushes at him, trying to get him to leave.

“Go on, you big lug. Shoo! I need total concentration and you laughing it up like it’s improv night isn’t helping.”

“Okay, okay,” he relents. “Let me back in when you’re done though. I want us to wait together.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she mutters as she slams the door in his face.

There’s a few minutes of silence before he starts whining.

“Are you done yet?”

“Stop rushing me! I can’t pee if you’re making me nervous.”

Another few minutes go by and sure enough, “What about now? Are you done now?”

Issa’s starting to wonder why she wants a child when clearly she already has one.

She finishes up, washes her hands and sets the timer on her phone. She waits a beat to open the door just to fuck with him.

“What the hell takes you so long?” he asks, going over to the stick on the bathroom counter.

She smacks his hand away as he reaches for it. “Leave it alone, you overgrown manchild.”

They settle on the floor to wait.

“How long until it’s ready?”

“Four minutes.”

“How long did you make me wait out there because you’re a vindictive brat?”

She can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of her. He really does know her too well. “Two minutes.”

He takes her hand and brings it to his lips before settling their joined hands on his lap. They both lean their heads against the wall.

“Do you have a preference? Boy or girl?” he asks, turning to look at her.

“Gender is a social construct propagated by the white, patriarchal system.”

“Oh lord,” he rolls his eyes. “This isn’t a women’s studies class, Issa.”

She flicks his ear but then gets serious. “I just want a healthy baby, you know? Something we created together.”

He leans in for a kiss right as the timer on her phone goes off. She’s suddenly very nervous. Logically she knows if she’s not pregnant, they can keep trying. But she already feels attached to the idea and doesn’t want to be disappointed.

“Want me to go check it?” he asks, sensing her anxiousness.

She only nods. He stretches up far enough to get the stick off the counter. He takes a deep breath and then looks. The huge ass smile on his face tells her all she needs to know.

“Yeah?”

He nods and she can see tears welling up in his beautiful blue eyes. “We’re having a baby.”

She almost knocks the wind out of him when she dives in for a hug. He steadies them though and wraps her up tight in his arms. She is overwhelmed with love and happiness.

He pulls away but only far enough to bring his hands to her face. “God, I love you.”

He moves a hand to her stomach. “And I love you too, Baby Teller.”

She covers his hand with hers, in awe of the fact that their baby is growing inside her. With a soft smile playing across her lips, Issa whispers, “Welcome to the world, our little peanut.”


End file.
